Sleep Deprivation Worsens Postpartum Depression

"A study published in the current issue of the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing shows that depression sympoms worsen in PPD patients when their quality of sleep declines". Sleep deprivation can hamper a mother's ability to care for her infant, as judgment and concentration decline. Sleep-deprived mothers also may inadvertently compromise their infants' sleep quality because infants often adopt their mothers' circadian sleep rhythms.