While a brand new baby can add a great deal to a woman's life, it may also take away one vital element: sleep.
Study led by researchers at Stavanger University Hospital in Norway, and published in the journal SLEEP, finds complaints of sleepiness could be an indicator of postpartum depression.
Their study of nearly 3,000 new mothers found nearly 20-percent of women diagnosed with postpartum depression had also experienced the condition during pregnancy, and nearly 50-percent had a depressive episode before pregnancy.
The average amount of sleep experienced by women in the study was 6.5 hours. The average age of the mother was 30, their babies were 8.4 weeks.
Because lack of sleep can exacerbate depression symptoms, experts say it is important for doctors to pay attention to women's complaints of sleepiness.
