Study finds that babies born to women who suffer from anxiety or depression are more likely to wake up during the night

Results of the study, which are published in the April issue of the journal SLEEP, indicate that preconceptional psychological distress – anxiety or depression – was a strong predictor of infant night waking, independent of the effects of postnatal depression, bedroom sharing and other factors including mother’s age, and lifestyle and sociodemographic factors. Significant psychological distress prior to conception was associated with a 23 per cent increased risk of infant night wakings at six months of age and a 22 per cent increased risk at twelve months of age.

Frequent, disruptive night wakings in late infancy are clinically relevant because they predict sleep problems at three years of age, which in turn are associated with behavioural problems. During early childhood development, poor sleep quality also may affect learning abilities. Infant night wakings also disrupt a mother’s sleep, which predicts maternal mood, stress and fatigue.

These untreated infant sleep problems can become chronic, with implications for the mental health and well-being of both the child and the mother. The difficulties of mothers who are already vulnerable to anxiety and depression will be exacerbated if they also are deprived of sleep.

Dr Janis Baird, from the University of Southampton’s MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre, who led the study comments: “Our findings suggest that the mental health of women preparing for pregnancy is important, and we need to find ways of supporting women who are depressed or anxious before, during and after pregnancy.”

The study, which took its findings from the Southampton Women’s Survey – the UK’s largest-ever study of women’s health and lifestyle, involved 874 Southampton women aged between 20 and 34 years. Before becoming pregnant the women completed the General Health Questionnaire, a 12-question screening instrument that detects depression and anxiety disorders. Twenty-nine per cent of the women were classified as having significant psychological distress.

When their baby was six months and twelve months of age, the women reported how often their child woke on average each night between the hours of midnight and 6am for a two-week period. The percentage of children who woke at least once each night was higher among women who had had psychological distress before pregnancy, both at six months of age (52 per cent vs 43 per cent) and twelve months of age (46 per cent vs 36 per cent).