Infant feeding type and maternal sleep during the postpartum period: a systematic review and meta-analysis

J Sleep Res. 2022 May 12:e13625. doi: 10.1111/jsr.13625. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe aim of this meta-analysis was to examine the associations among infant feeding types, sleeping habits, and maternal sleep postpartum. Databases including Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied-Health Literature (CINAHL), PubMed, and Google Scholar were searched in addition to reference lists from selected articles and other key references. A critical review of relevant articles from the data sources was conducted with attention to the infant feeding types and maternal night-time sleep. The methodological quality was assessed systematically. The pooled mean difference was calculated. Narrative summaries were also used. A total of 6,472 participants from seven studies were included in the meta-analysis. A random-effects model demonstrated a significantly higher maternal night-time sleep in breastfeeding mothers than non-breastfeeding mothers with a pooled standardized mean difference of 0.24 h (95% confidence interval 0.03-0.46, p = 0.026). Co-sleeping with infants during the night also increased the sleeping hours in breastfeeding mothers. Homogeneity was observed with a Tau2 of 0.0308 and I2 of 44.3%. Funnel plots, Egger's and Begg's tests revealed no evidence of publication bias. This systematic review and meta-analysis demonstrated that breastfeeding may be associated with a longer night-time sleep postpartum and the synthesis of the literature suggested that co-sleeping with the infa...
Source: Journal of Sleep Research - Category: Sleep Medicine Authors: Source Type: research