Postpartum Sleep Deprivation; How it Impacts Your Hormones & Natural Ways to Recover

According to a study published in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship , up to 88% of postpartum women experience poor sleep quality and sleep disturbance

Further data published in the Journal of Sleep, showed that ethnic minority women experience greater sleep deprivation than white women

The study also highlighted that the mothers' sleep did not fully recover, even up to 6 years following the birth of their first child, and became worse with the birth of each additional child

According to the data, less sleep for mum equated to less employed work, less hours worked and lower household income.

Why Hormones Play a Key Role in Postpartum Sleep Loss

An unsettled baby and a drop in hormones is a double whammy to explain your postpartum sleep disturbance

After delivery, progesterone hormone drops from pregnancy highs to complete zero, oestrogen drops to low levels and cortisol rises. Progesterone is not restored until ovulation is restored. If you are fully breast-feeding this may not happen until 2 to 3 months after stopping breast feeding

Progesterone hormone would usually promote sleep by stimulating relaxing gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), this reduces brain activity and gives that sleepy feeling that helps us to sleep

'Older' mothers are more likely to experience poor sleep quality and more severe hormone fluctuation

How Persistent Sleep Deprivation Disrupts Hormone Balance

The impact of disturbed sleep isn't just about feeling tired; it changes your body biology with impact.

Your sleep wake cycle, or body clock, ultimately regulates body hormone production. Where sleep is disrupted, there is no balance,

Long Term Health Risks From Sleep Loss

Persistent sleep deprivation means higher blood sugar levels, less efficient insulin, changes to oestrogen and progesterone, cortisol dysregulation and disrupted appetite hormones

The cortisol increase stimulates the hormone control centre; the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, further increasing cortisol. Persistent activation then flips to suppression of the HPA axis; ultimately leading to low oestrogen and progesterone and reduced cortisol

This biological landscape means that you are more likely to retain weight, and potentially gain weight. The additional body fat contributes to body inflammation and makes insulin work less efficiently, resulting in higher blood sugar levels. High cortisol exacerbates high blood sugar levels. It's a vicious cycle.

The high insulin levels can contribute to irregular cycles, absent cycles or regular cycles with no ovulation. With no ovulation progesterone remains low and oestrogen can then become excessively high compared to the progesterone.

Medically this paves the way for:

• Difficulty conceiving

• Diabetes

• High blood pressure

• Cardiovascular disease

• Poorer mental health transferring to poor partner mental health too

• Difficulty in interpersonal relationships

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Disrupted baby bonding with potential impact on child development

So if baby sleeps well, not only do you sleep well too mamma, but you reduce your risk of developing long-term serious health diseases, while safeguarding your hormone health and recovery

The solution isn’t Supernanny’s controversial crying out method; learn to guide your baby to self-soothe to sleep, and support this with tools to soothe your hormones back to balance.

Natural Solutions for Baby and Mother's Sleep

Read my step by step guide below

How to Teach Your Baby to Self Soothe

1. Start training your baby to self soothe at 3 to 4 months of age

2. Sleep in the same room as your child for the first six to 12 months to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

3. Adopt a consistent bedtime routine (bath, feed, massage, read) to signal sleep time to baby

4. Set the scene for sleep after feeding and putting on a clean nappy; dim the lights and use a white noise device to settle baby in

5. Invest in black out blinds

6. Try a light swaddle with a muslin cloth. Place the baby in the cot when drowsy but still awake. Apply firm hand pressure on baby's chest for 10 or so seconds, with baby laying on their back

7. Stay in the room but walk away for 1 to 2 minutes

8. If baby does not settle or cries, soothe with gentle singing, rocking gently or light pats.

9. The key is to resist picking them up straight away so that you give them time to try and settle themselves, but be present and help encourage the soothing

10. Do tag team with your partner to handle night waking

How to Support Your Sleep Wake Cycle Naturally

1. Support your own sleep wake cycles by avoiding screen exposure 2 hours before bedtime

2. Get out in the morning for morning light exposure

3. Reduce blue light exposure on screens with F.lux software, Twilight app or Night Shift app’s

4. The aim is for at least 7 hours of sleep, yes, 7, for yourself

5. Resist trying to do chores when baby is sleeping. Take the opportunity to sleep yourself to avoid hormone mayhem later down the line

6. Choose sleep over exercise when sleep is lacking

Nutrition & Supplements to Support Postpartum Hormone Balance

1. Include magnesium rich nuts, seeds and leafy greens in your diet

2. Take a magnesium glycinate supplement which calms brain activity and regulates the HPA axis

3. Eat protein at each meal to balance blood sugars, especially at breakfast

4. Snack on whole foods; carrots, sugar snap peas, greek yoghurt with berries, nuts & seeds

5. Avoid high calorie sugary snacks

6. Avoid caffeine

7. Don't skip your carbohydrates or restrict calories too early in your postpartum phase; this serves as an additional stressor on the HPA axis

8. Calm the hypothalamus with ashwaganda tea

9. Support progesterone with supplements of B6, vitamin C and zinc that have been shown to support progesterone levels

10. Increase your daily fibre to help your body to metabolise oestrogen properly, helping to maintain the balance.

11. Include cabbage, broccoli, kale and cauliflower foods. These foods contain the enzyme DIM (diindolylmethane), this helps to encourage conversion of oestrogen to a protective form rather than a harmful form of oestrogen

12. Incorporate stress relief where you can, even taking in slow breaths over a count of 5 seconds and breathing out for 5 seconds can help to regulate the nervous system and impact the hormone system

Please consult with a medical practitioner if you are breastfeeding or have health conditions

Take control of your postpartum recovery naturally. Start with these gentle baby sleep techniques and hormone balancing habits today

References

Spaeth, A. M., Khetarpal, R., Yu, D., Pien, G. W., & Herring, S. J. (2021). Determinants of postpartum sleep duration and sleep efficiency in minority women. Sleep, 44(4), zsaa246. https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsaa246

Ko, S., Chen, C., Wang, H. and Su, Y. (2014), Postpartum Women's Sleep Quality and Its Predictors in Taiwan. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 46: 74-81. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnu.12053