Babies sleep worse if their mothers are depressed

Postpartum depression is a disorder that affects up to 15% of mothers that affects the relationship of the mother and the baby in different ways.

One of the problems that can arise when a mother is depressed is the effect on her children's sleep. Apparently Babies whose mothers are depressed sleep worse than those with moms without depression.

These data come from a study conducted with 18 healthy babies born at term. Sleep behaviors were observed with actigraphy (physical activity monitoring) to control their movements for seven consecutive days per month, over a period of 6 months. The mothers of the babies also recorded daily periods of sleep and wakefulness of their children. Of the total children, eleven had mothers with depression while the other seven had no family history of the disorder.

The researchers found that babies of depressed mothers it took longer to fall asleep than those who did not have moms with depression (around 80 minutes the first versus 20 minutes the seconds) and woke up more times during the night (four against two times). These differences were maintained during the six months of the investigation.

"Although there are many environmental and social factors that can influence the baby's sleep and behavior, this study is a first step towards characterizing the influence of maternal depression."wrote the team.

As a comment to the study, to say that the study sample (18 children) seems very small to me and it would be necessary to know a little more what strategies the mothers took to sleep their little ones (if they cradled them in their arms or let them sleep alone, if they they gave breast milk or artificial milk, if they were allowed to cry or not, if the temperature was adequate or not, etc.) to affirm the causality.

In spite of everything it seems obvious to me that a baby needs a happy and active mom that you can take care of your child, give him the love and time he needs, the stimulation and caresses he deserves and it is possible that moms with depression tend to act in a cooler way with their children and this has an impact on their daily lives, causing (perhaps) sadness or depression in the child and the aforementioned sleep problems.

Hopefully they will continue researching this issue, since the emotional health of the mother and the baby is a really important factor in their relationship and in the child's development.

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