A behavioral-educational intervention to promote maternal and infant sleep: a pilot randomized, controlled trial.
OBJECTIVE
Maternal and infant sleep are significant health concerns for postpartum families. The results of previously published studies have indicated that behavioral-educational strategies promote infant sleep, but these reports relied on parental report and did not include maternal sleep. This pilot study of a maternal-infant sleep intervention evaluated feasibility, acceptability, and effects on sleep and other outcomes in the early postpartum period.


METHODS
Randomized controlled trial with concealed-group allocation.


METHODS
Hospital postpartum unit with home follow-up.


METHODS
First-time mothers and their infants randomly assigned to sleep intervention (n = 15) or control group (n = 15).


METHODS
The sleep intervention included a 45-minute meeting with a nurse to discuss sleep information and strategies, an 11-page booklet, and weekly phone contact to reinforce information and problem solve. The control group received a 10-minute meeting during which only maternal sleep hygiene and basic information about infant sleep were discussed, a 1-page pamphlet, and calls at weeks 3 and 5 to maintain contact without provision of advice.


RESULTS
Questionnaires were completed at baseline and 6 weeks; sleep diaries and mother and infant actigraphy were completed at 6 weeks. The mothers in the sleep intervention group averaged 57 minutes more nighttime sleep, and fewer rated their sleep as a problem, as compared with the mothers in the control group. Infants in the sleep intervention group had fewer nighttime awakenings and had maximum lengths of nighttime sleep that were, on average, 46 minutes longer than those in the control group.


CONCLUSIONS
A behavioral-educational intervention with first-time mothers in the early postpartum period promotes maternal and infant sleep. Further evaluation of the intervention in a larger, more diverse sample is needed.
Stremler
Robyn
R
Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. robyn.stremler@utoronto.ca
Hodnett
Ellen
E
Lee
Kathryn
K
MacMillan
Shauna
S
Mill
Catriona
C
Ongcangco
Lisa
L
Willan
Andrew
A
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D004594:Electrophysiology / Q000295:instrumentation; D005221:Fatigue / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires