Increasing sleep just a dream for new mothers

New parents trying to find sleep strategies and tools to get a bit more shut-eye in the first 12 weeks postpartum will have to keep looking, says new research from Assistant Professor Robyn Stremler of Bloomberg Nursing. The study, Effect of a behavioural-educational intervention on sleep in primiparous women and their infants in early postpartum: multisite randomised controlled trial , appears online in BMJ ( British Medical Journal ). It demonstrates that new parents use sleep strategies as advised by nurses but do not end up getting more sleep. Stremler's research focuses on ways to improve sleep and health outcomes in infants, children and parents, through pregnancy and beyond. She shares her latest findings, and what this means for postpartum sleep, with U of'T News. What do the results of this study mean for new parents? - Taking care of a newborn for the first time is an overwhelming experience, even for the most prepared parents. Many parents commiserate about the ongoing exhaustion they face and I wanted to determine if providing new mothers still in the hospital with sleep strategies and support would improve their sleep, and the baby's sleep, in the first 12 weeks of the baby's life. The study showed that while the sleep advice and extra help from nurses was used and appreciated, there was no increase in sleep. While it might seem a bit disheartening for new parents and health care professionals that early intervention didn't improve sleep during that time there are still chances to develop healthy sleep habits later on in an infant's life. Parents have so much to learn about their baby in the first few weeks, they don't need to be hard on themselves about fostering maternal and infant sleep patterns this early on. Were you surprised by the results?