“Sleep is an essential part of health, helping with rest and recovery,” says Sivani Aluru, MD, a specialist in comprehensive obstetrics and gynecology at Endeavor Health in Naperville, Illinois. “Our bodies perform a lot of housekeeping tasks while we are sleeping.” Not getting enough sleep can cause long-term health issues and increase your risk of chronic diseases. It also slows your reaction time and can even be a safety concern, she says.
Despite how hard it is to catch some z’s with a newborn, don’t give up. Your body needs restorative sleep, even if it’s just for a few hours at a time. Studies show that combining four to five hours of uninterrupted sleep with shorter naps is beneficial for new moms at risk of postpartum depression (PPD).
It’s a vicious cycle, because PPD can up the time needed to fall asleep, increase sleep disturbances, cause poor quality of sleep, and give you less time in restorative sleep, says Dr. Aluru. See your healthcare provider if you think you might be experiencing PPD symptoms. Some other reasons you should protect your sleep include:
- Healing “Sleep is especially important for your body as it recovers,” says Mei. Your body repairs tissue and builds muscle during sleep. Your uterus, pelvic floor muscles, and perineal tears all heal best when your body is relaxed and resting, she says.
- Bonding When you are well rested, you have more patience and can be more in tune with your baby’s needs. You also have the energy to hold and cuddle your baby. Sleep deprivation, on the other hand, can make you easily stressed and irritable, making it harder to connect emotionally with your child.
- Hormones As you snore away, the body works to balance the hormones that affect mood and stress. When you don’t sleep enough, cortisol is elevated, making you more stressed. At the same time, poor sleep depletes serotonin, the hormone linked to good feelings.
- Immunity Poor sleep can weaken the immune system’s ability to fight bacterial and viral pathogens, says Aluru. During sleep, the body releases cytokines, which are proteins that help fight inflammation and infection.
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