The purposes of this pilot randomized controlled trial were to: 1) determine the feasibility, facilitators, and barriers of the Sleep Support for Moms Intervention (SSMI), and the smart phone sleep application, Sleep Time; 2) the effect of the SSMI on sleep disturbance and depressive symptoms in the mothers, and on the sleep of their infants. The SSMI was guided by the Health Belief Model of preventive behaviors, which informs how the women are influenced to be proactive in their health.
Methods:
The 40 first time mothers were recruited from a suburban, nonprofit, obstetric clinic, and randomized to the SSMI or the active control group. Subjective measures of sleep disturbance were: refreshed sleep, nighttime sleep, and the General Sleep Disturbance Scale. Nighttime sleep totals were reported via daily texting. Depression was measured by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. The SSMI consisted of a 45 minute, prenatal anticipatory guidance class on improving sleep and the risk for postpartum depression. The SSMI included: enlisting support, room sharing, enhancing infant sleep, sunlight exposure, sleep hygiene, and weekly texting. The active control group received a class identical to the SSMI group, except the topic was infant care, and safety.
Results:
The final sample was 34 women (mean age 26.6 years) from varying racial/ethnic backgrounds. The SSMI was acceptable as evidenced by minimal attrition (15%), and an adherence of 92%. The SSMI group had significantly better sleep. Infant sleep was not significant between the groups, except for practical significance. The infants in the SSMI group had 27 more minutes of sleep than the infants in the control group. The SSMI group had fewer depressive symptoms. The use of the sleep application in this sample was not feasible. Only four (13%) of the women used the smart phone sleep application.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, anticipatory guidance on sleep provided by a healthcare professional can improve sleep and decrease depressive symptoms; however, the results must be viewed within the context of a pilot study and must be replicated in a full-scale study.