The recently released "China Sleep Research Report (2022)" (hereinafter referred to as the report) shows that nearly 80% novice mothers are troubled by insomnia, 50.30% novice mothers think that their sleep time is "not enough", and more than half (58.38%) novice mothers say that they go to bed at 2 am every month 1-7 days. The Report analyzes the sleep status of postpartum women in urban residents and its influencing factors, and puts forward countermeasures and suggestions around three levels: individual, family and society.
I have no time to sleep, or I can't sleep when I have time. Novice mothers generally have poor sleep conditions.
Novice mothers, that is, adult women whose first child is 0-3 years old and have not yet given birth to a second child. Families with children aged 0-3 years are in the second stage of the family life cycle, when women are in a critical period of learning how to play the role of mothers. Novice mothers show different characteristics from women in other stages in terms of role cognition, lifestyle and mentality.
Wang Junxiu believes that the general population mainly has the problem of delayed sleep or staying up late, but the insomnia of novice mothers is centered on parenting, because parenting, especially feeding babies, is particularly hard, and the circadian rhythm will be disrupted. According to the report, novice mothers generally expect to have a long deep sleep, hoping to "sleep until dawn" and wake up "refreshed". But the actual situation is often not optimistic, novice mothers can not always achieve the ideal sleep effect, less deep sleep, and lack of energy after waking up.
Less "full sleep" and more sleep problems are common among novice mothers. From the late pregnancy, due to the discomfort of physical changes and the influence of postpartum breastfeeding, crying and bed wetting, women's sleep quality has changed significantly. In order to take care of children at night and enhance their sense of security, novice mothers often let their children sleep beside them in the first six months after their birth, which will naturally affect the quality of sleep.
In addition, novice mothers often finish their work during the day and take care of their children at night after returning to work after maternity leave. Most mothers can only sacrifice their sleep time to get a moment of freedom after their children fall asleep. "No time to sleep is a big problem. If you have time, you may not fall asleep. " Wang Junxiu's description shows that the overall sleep quality of novice mothers is poor.
Poor long-term sleep after delivery can easily lead to fatigue, decreased immunity, anxiety and depression of novice mothers.
On the Internet, the reporter saw a lot of information that postpartum women are eager to solve their sleep problems. Some friends around the reporter also reported that they were depressed or even collapsed all day because of lack of postpartum sleep. In response to a netizen's request for help, Yang li Ping, deputy chief physician of Daqing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said that postpartum women suffered from insomnia and even severe postpartum depression. Because of lack of sleep, novice mothers will be in a state of fatigue in their bodies and brains, unable to concentrate, and their memory will also be affected, showing symptoms such as groggy and listless. After a long time, it may lead to mental disorders, and in severe cases, depression, anxiety and autonomic nerve dysfunction may occur. Poor sleep for a long time will also lead to dull complexion, dull skin and decreased immunity of new mothers, which will be aggravated if there are chronic diseases such as hypertension.
The reporter also found that sleep problems can also cause the following health hazards to postpartum women: 1. Lead to forgetfulness. The parturient consumes a lot of physical strength in the process of delivery, and the blood consumption is too large, which requires rest. If you don't get enough sleep after delivery, it's easy to concentrate and forget after a long time. 2. It is easy to lose hair. New mothers can't get a good rest if they don't get enough sleep, which will affect the blood supply to their heads and make them prone to hair loss. 3. Not conducive to physical recovery. Studies have shown that continuous lack of sleep can lead to hormonal changes and stimulate appetite. The researchers found that when the child is 6 months old, if the new mother sleeps less than 5 hours a day, then when the child is 1 year old, she will gain more weight 10 kg than the mother who sleeps 7 hours a day. Experts suggest that pregnant women should sleep 2 hours more every day in addition to maintaining a healthy diet and physical exercise if they want to return to their prenatal body shape.
Postpartum physical and mental discomfort, taking care of work and parenting, and lack of family support are all important factors that affect novice mothers' sleep.
The report points out that novice mothers are under the pressure of career development, raising children and caring for the elderly, and are under the pressure of physical discomfort, declining sleep quality and changing roles. Physical factors, psychological factors, career development and parenting factors and social support factors may all affect novice mothers' sleep.
1. Postpartum physical changes and discomfort affect sleep. The experiences of pregnancy, childbirth and child-rearing have brought various changes and discomforts to novice mothers, such as fatigue and injury of lumbar vertebrae, cervical vertebrae and shoulder joints, and migraine, which objectively affected their sleep.
2. Lack of parenting knowledge and psychological preparation, forced to sacrifice their sleep. It is found that domestic women rarely have the opportunity to contact and understand the life conditions that they may face in the weeks or months after delivery, which leads many expectant mothers to be easily unprepared in both psychology and nursing, and forced to sacrifice their sleep when they are tired of coping with the new situation that follows.
3. Postpartum depression affects sleep. The data show that the incidence of postpartum depression in China is 14.7%, which is higher in economically backward areas. Postpartum depression will also affect the sleep of novice mothers.
4. Considering that the pressure of work and parenting leads to insomnia. How to strike a balance between seeking career development and caring for children, most novice mothers will choose to sacrifice their sleep time to finish their work, and at the same time bear the tremendous pressure brought by work and parenting, and often suffer from insomnia. Research shows that novice mothers in the internet age generally pay attention to "scientific parenting" in parenting methods; When they have parenting experience and skills, they like to share them through mobile phone software; When they encounter difficult problems, they will also seek help through mobile phone software. However, the jumbled information on the Internet can easily confuse novice mothers, and the so-called "perfect mother" image on the Internet will invisibly reduce the self-evaluation of novice mothers, so that they are always worried that their unprofessional, inadequate efforts and improper upbringing will affect their children's healthy growth.
5. Lack of social support increases psychological fatigue. Studies in Britain and Australia have found that the support of parents, family, friends, other mothers and professionals obviously helps novice mothers to have a more positive emotional response at an early stage. If the novice father's enthusiasm for participation is very low, it will not only make the novice mother psychologically unbalanced, but also affect the relationship between husband and wife and their views on marriage; On the other hand, if novice fathers have high participation and enthusiasm in raising children, the psychological pressure of novice mothers can be alleviated. Many novice mothers say that if parents-in-law, parents or husbands can help look after children, they can occasionally get rid of repetitive and boring parenting tasks, go out for a massage, get together with their girlfriends, or husband and wife can occasionally watch a movie and take a short trip. It can make them feel more relaxed and have a better sleep like charging.
To improve the sleep of novice mothers, self-regulation, family support and maternal and child health care services are indispensable.
The Report pointed out that it is of great significance to guide the female group to scientifically give birth, raise and educate their children and complete the smooth transition from novice mothers to mature mothers for better promoting the harmonious development of family and society. Improving bad sleep as soon as possible is the best way for postpartum women to cope with physical and mental problems in this special period.
1. Reduce sleep interference factors and let go of the obsession with "perfect mother". In order to improve the quality of sleep, novice mothers are advised to develop good work and rest rules, maintain healthy sleep habits and use electronic products such as mobile phones reasonably. First of all, try to reduce the interference factors that affect sleep, such as avoiding drinking, coffee, tea and so on. Drink a proper amount of hot milk and soup before going to bed to reduce the number of times you get up at night. Secondly, we should pay attention to the improvement of the sleeping environment, such as adjusting the lighting in time to create a sleeping atmosphere, choosing bedding that can make us feel comfortable and warm, listening to relaxing music that can promote sleep before going to bed, and taking measures that help sleep, such as taking a hot bath, soaking feet, massage, etc. Third, eat more foods with calming effects such as Ziziphus jujuba seeds, red dates and walnuts, and participate in aerobic outdoor activities to stabilize your mood. Fourth, under the guidance of professionals, it is more suitable for children to adjust their sleep rhythm, try to reduce the number of feeding and sleeping at night, and try to increase the time of deep sleep even if it is difficult to obtain the ideal sleep length.
In addition, novice mothers should learn to accept themselves, avoid too much psychological pressure because of pursuing the image of "perfect mother", seek help from professionals in time, and improve the status quo of being at a loss on some issues. If you are aware of the physical and mental symptoms that affect your sleep, don't be afraid to see a doctor in time.
2. Harmonious family relationship and seeking family support. The husbands and other family members of novice mothers should pay full attention to the emotional changes of novice mothers in the process of parenting, give them more support and help, and reduce their burden. Harmonious family relationship can effectively reduce the psychological pressure of novice mothers, improve their sleep quality, and play a positive role in promoting the mental health of mothers and infants.
3. Community health and maternal and child care institutions should vigorously provide parenting support. Some domestic studies believe that necessary nursing intervention is beneficial to the role transformation of novice mothers. Therefore, local community health institutions and maternal and child health care institutions should vigorously strengthen the standardized supply of maternal and child health care services, make use of various online platforms and offline publicity, publicize the necessary physiology, health and parenting knowledge to novice mothers, and help newborn families to prepare psychologically and reserve knowledge in advance in the face of various changes, thus improving the quality of parenting and enabling the whole family to get a better sleep.
At the same time, novice mothers should be encouraged to openly share and discuss all kinds of troubles they are experiencing, so as to attract the attention of the society to related problems and put forward solutions; The society should also publicize more scientific health knowledge and guide novice mothers and the public to get scientific sleep.