I have quite a few friends who have decided they don't want to have children at all. And while I applaud that decision (especially in the face of a society that largely shames women who opt out of motherhood), I'm also completely happy to admit that I go doe-eyed over prams and practically fall apart over miniature shoes. I'm ready for kids!
But, even the broodiest among us would probably baulk at a new study published in the journal Sleep which found that new parents can expect to face up to six years of sleep deprivation.
Yes, to re-iterate: that's six years - during which time, you could have completed two undergraduate courses or qualified as a vet. The study, which tracked the sleep of thousands of men and women, unsurprisingly found that women bear more of the brunt to their sleep with the arrival of a new baby. While women are likely to lose an extra hour of sleep a night compared to before they were pregnant, fathers by contrast will only lose 13 minutes (C'mon guys!)
However before we start taking new fathers to task too much, it might not be that they’re just shirking the responsibilities of ‘taking their turn’. Factors that were shown to contribute to a loss of sleep when you have children included stress and worry associated with parenthood as well as your children waking up, being sick or having nightmares, and typically time that your child affecting your sleep will be at an all-time high is when they are three months old (something new parents will likely be all to familiar with).
Don't be alarmed if you also suffer a lot with your first baby. Some good news (at least) is that a first child is also most likely to be the one to cause you a lack of shut-eye as opposed to a second or third. When asked to rate their sleep on a scale of 1-10 the research found that women's sleep quality dropped by 1.7 points during the first year of their first baby's life. However this improved with the second and third child - with a drop of just one point. The research found that the effects of having children on mothers has an ongoing impact on sleep for four to six years after you've had your first child, even when taking into consideration the effect of any subsequent children you may have had. Both the amount of hours that you get, and the quality of mothers sleep was reported by the study to have been affected.
The research follows on the heels of a recent survey by the Office of NationalStatistics which found that women do 40% more of the household chores and childcare than men, and that working mothers who are juggling a job with childcare are 40% more stressed than anyone else in the country.
And sure, all these statistics and research are great - but with such overwhelming evidence that new mothers are the demographic to suffer more than anyone else with stress, lack of sleep and taking on the emotional labour of the household: when are we going to start finding tangible ways help out mothers with young children?