Various studies have shown that short sleep duration is associated with higher body weight and a greater risk of obesity. It is unclear whether disrupted sleep in the postpartum period has a similar impact on women's weight. The aim of the present study was to systematically review the available evidence for an association between sleep and postpartum weight retention. EMBASE, Medline and CINAHL were searched for studies published from 1946 to May 2015. Search results were manually scrutinised for any relevant studies. Relevant articles found were also screened through forward and backward citation to look for all possible studies to include.
A total of n = 9 studies were found using a variety of designs, various subjective measures of sleep, assessed across a range of different time points postpartum, and using different cut-off points for what was considered “substantial” weight retention. Of these studies: n = 4 found a significant association between short sleep duration and postpartum weight retention; n = 1 found a linear association between body weight and sleep duration; while n = 4 studies found no evidence of an association between disrupted sleep and postpartum weight retention.
As such, studies published to-date provides only equivocal and inconsistent results regarding the association between sleep and postpartum weight retention. This review indicates the need for more robust research in this area using, in particular, more consistent prospective designs, with better quantification of weight retention and validated instruments for the subjective assessment of sleep (or, better still, objective measurement of sleep duration).
