Lack of sleep in the months after childbirth may be due to depression, according to a study published in the journal "Sleep". This fatigue is usually attributed to the lack of rest due to the birth of the baby, since the three months after the birth are characterized by the continuous change in sleep parameters.
However, it should not be ruled out that it could cover up a postpartum depression: postpartum depression could aggravate the sleep disorders of women who previously suffered from them and that, in addition, such dysfunctions may themselves be a symptom of depression.
The data was extracted from a sample of 2,830 women, who gave birth between September 2005 and September 2006 at the Stavanger hospital (Norway). All responded to a questionnaire that was sent to them seven weeks after delivery. Among them the incidence of sleep problems was 57.7% and that of depression 16.5%.
According to the research, directed by psychiatrist Karen Dørheim (of the Stavanger University Hospital), sleep could be an element that interacts and influences the rest of the risk factors associated with postpartum depression and, on the other hand, can be the trigger for depression in women who suffer changes in sleep patterns.
Interruptions during rest or poor quality of sleep were aspects of sleep that showed a greater incidence in depression.
Anyway, lack of sleep was associated with depression when combined with other elements, as a poor relationship, having suffered depression before or during pregnancy and having experienced stressful situations throughout life.
One more aspect to take care of and monitor in those delicate moments after childbirth, since the postpartum depression It is a very serious problem that affects many women, although as we see it also has to see our situation during pregnancy and even before.
