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Woman sleeping

Factors influencing sleep quality on the postnatal ward

Midwife-led research

Our Doctors

Meet the Research Team

Photo of Jacana Bresson
Photo of Shawn Walker
Photo of Ella Caine
Jacana Bresson RM
Chief Investigator

Jacana is organising and delivering this research. Jacana works both as a community midwife and at Lewisham Birth Centre.

Dr Shawn Walker RM
Primary Supervisor

Shawn is an experienced midwife across all midwifery settings and a senior clinical academic. Shawn will work closely with Jacana to support her throughout the study.

Dr Ella Caine RM, FHEA
Supervisor

Ella is a Consultant Midwife specialising in intrapartum care and complex birth. Ella will support the project with her expertise in researching midwifery-led care.

How it Works

Why are we doing this study?

Photo of a mother and baby, with the baby asleep

Health complications like diabetes are becoming more commonplace in pregnancy. People are starting families later in life, which can also lead to complications. As many as 42,000 women per year suffer from PTSD around the time of pregnancy and birth, with those who experience health complications most likely to experience psychological trauma. Recently, there has been an increase in maternal deaths related to mental health.

 

At the same time, research shows that the quality and amount of sleep you have during pregnancy and after birth affects your physical and mental health. Too little or poor quality sleep is associated with high blood pressure, poor blood sugar control, disrupted immune system function, postnatal depression, symptoms of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Despite this, studies have shown that the postnatal ward environment does not allow for healthy sleep, and that being sleep deprived can prevent you from taking on and remembering valuable information, that is meant to help you care for yourself and your newborn baby.

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In this context of increasingly complex maternity care, it is essential for midwives and hospitals to provide care that helps women and birthing people to be as healthy as possible.

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