To study the relation of infant characteristics and home environment on maternal sleep, depression, and fatigue in late postpartum.Forty-two healthy mother-infant dyads completed a home-based study at infant age 32 weeks. Maternal measures included Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) sleep and wake disturbance, depression, and fatigue scales. Home regularity was assessed using the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS). Infant sleep and regulation were measured respectively by the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ) and Infant-Toddler Symptom Checklist (ITSC).Significant correlations among maternal sleep and wake disturbance, fatigue, and depression were detected (r = .519 to .746, p < .01), but not with infant variables. Home regularity was significantly related with maternal variables (r = .597 to .653, p < .01).Regularity of the home environment appears to contribute to maternal sleep, depression, and fatigue. Implications for intervention include establishment of daily routines and household management to improve regularity and consequently improve maternal outcomes.
Since concerned neonatal nurses couldn't climb inside an incubator, they did the next best thing. Here's what they found—and what they're doing about it.
Analysis of total dissolved nitrogen concentrations from soil water samples collected within the soil zone under septic tank leach fields in Spanish Springs Valley, Nevada, shows a median concentration of approximately 44 milligrams per liter (mg/L) from more than 300 measurements taken from four septic tank systems. Using two simple mass balance calculations, the concentration of total dissolved nitrogen potentially reaching the ground-water table ranges from 25 to 29 mg/L. This indicates that approximately 29 to 32 metric tons of nitrogen enters the aquifer every year from natural recharge and from the 2,070 houses that use septic tanks in the densely populated portion of Spanish Springs Valley. Natural recharge contributes only 0.25 metric tons because the total dissolved nitrogen concentration of natural recharge was estimated to be low (0.8 mg/L). Although there are many uncertainties in this estimate, the sensitivity of these uncertainties to the calculated load is relatively small, indicating that these values likely are accurate to within an order of magnitude. The nitrogen load calculation will be used as an input function for a ground-water flow and transport model that will be used to test management options for controlling nitrogen contamination in the basin.
Background: Latinos experience high rates of obesity and related sequelae such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.Short sleep duration has been associated with obesity in children and adults, but most studies examining the associationfocused on non-Latinos. We do not know whether sleep assessment tools such as actigraphy and sleep diaries could beused with Latino mother-child dyads in community settings. Therefore, this feasibility study evaluated adherence to andacceptability of actigraphy and sleep diaries as tools for assessment sleep in Latino mothers and preschool children in acommunity setting. Methods: Using a descriptive design, 10 low-income, Spanish-speaking mothers and their 2- to 5-year-old children wererecruited from the community. Mother-child dyads wore actigraphy monitors and mothers completed sleep diary for 5days. Adherence was evaluated by assessing the percentage of data missing from the actigraph and completed sleep diaries. Maternal acceptability was evaluated by a survey. Results: There was minimal missing actigraphy data for a few children during the daytime, but not during the night time.Participants described some of the difficulties encountered in the study, including worries about the safekeeping ofresearch equipment, the personal discipline needed to record data, and the confusion experienced using part of the sleep diaries. Conclusion: Based on the results from this study, future sleep studies of Latina mothers and their children can be designedto increase adherence, improve acceptability, and minimize burden.
tsai s.‐y., thomas k.a., lentz m.j. & barnard k.e. (2011) Light is beneficial for infant circadian entrainment: an actigraphic study. Journal of Advanced Nursing 68 (6), 1738–1747. Abstract Aim. This article is a report of an exploratory study of the relation between light exposure and circadian rest–activity patterns in infants. Background. Ambient light is a major environmental stimulus for regulation of circadian rhythm of sleep and wake in adults, but few studies have been conducted to examine environmental light exposure in relation to rest–activity circadian rhythm parameters of infants. Methods. An intensive within‐subject design was used with a convenience sample of 22 infants (mean postnatal age 49·8 days) who wore a combined light and activity monitoring device for seven consecutive days at home. For each infant, light data (lux) were aggregated over the 7 days into categories of illumination and expressed in mean minutes/day. Circadian light and activity parameters, including mesor, amplitude, acrophase and R 2 cosinor fit, were determined using cosinor analysis. Associations between light exposure and circadian rest–activity rhythm parameters were examined using correlation and regression analyses. Data were collected between 2006 and 2007. Results. Infants spent only one‐eighth of their daytime hours in an environment with >100 lux light level. There was a relatively large statistically significant relation between the acrophase of light exposure and the acrophase of activity. Increased duration of daily exposure to >100 lux of illumination, and increased amplitude of circadian rhythm of light were associated with stronger circadian patterns of infant activity. Conclusion. Results suggest an association between light and activity patterns and that increasing duration of exposure to moderate light levels may be a simple and economical nursing intervention during the early postnatal weeks.
