Babies of anxious moms poor sleepers: Study

New York, April 2: Women who suffer depressiondefine or anxiety during pregnancy are more likely to have babies unable to sleep properly, a new study has indicated.

Babies born to women who suffered from anxiety or depressiondefine prior to pregnancy are 20 percent more likely to wake up in the night when they are six and 12 months old compared to those whose mothers were relaxed, the research has found.

The research, which concluded that babies could be poorer sleepers if their mothers suffered significant psychological distress prior to conception, was published in the Wednesday issue of the journal SLEEP.

The study involved 874 women from Southampton aged between 20 and 34, and analyzed the sleeping patterns of their babies at six and 12 months. The study women also completed a general health questionnaire before becoming pregnant.

Some 29 percent, or more than one in four, of the women studied were found to have significant psychological distress. When the babies were six and 12 months old, every woman reported how often their children had awakened in the night.

Researchers found that the percentage of babies who woke at least once a night was higher for those born to anxious or depressed mothers.

Significant psychological distress prior to conception was associated with a 52 percent higher risk of infant waking at night at six months and a 46 percent increased risk at 12 months, compared to those born to relaxed mothers- 43 percent and 36 percent.

The study findings show that depression or anxiety in pregnancy was a strong indicator of a child waking up, regardless of other factors like postnatal depression, or whether the baby shared a bedroom with anyone and other confounding factors.

A state of intense sadness, depression is a devastating and gloomy illness that affects every aspect of an individual’s life – physical, mental and emotional. Often undiagnosed and untreated, depression is more physically damaging than some major chronic diseases like angina, arthritis, asthma and diabetes.

The state of intense sadness, melancholia or despair often leads to constant negative thinking and sometimes substance abuse.