Postpartum Insomnia and Poor Sleep Quality are Longitudinally Predictive of Postpartum Mood Symptoms.

Most of the women in our sample had sleep disturbances across the perinatal period. Consistent with the extant literature, postpartum insomnia and poor sleep quality, but not prenatal measures of sleep, longitudinally predicted greater postpartum depression and anxiety symptoms. The chronic sleep deprivation of insomnia and the subjective experience of poor sleep quality are uniquely relevant risks for postpartum mood disorders. Evaluation and mitigation of perinatal sleep disturbance is an ideal opportunity to reduce postpartum mood disorders and subsequent health outcomes.