Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Any new mother can tell you that sleep is an important factor in how they feel, but a new study has found that certain changes in sleep and in biological rhythms are associated with how severe symptoms of anxiety and depression are during both the end of the pregnancy and the first few months of having a new baby.
The study, published Tuesday in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, followed 73 women in Hamilton, Ont., from their third trimester of pregnancy up until six to 12 weeks after giving birth.
Researchers say it is one of the largest studies investigating how sleep affects mood during the peripartum period — a term that spans the time shortly before, during, and after the birth of a child.
They found that changes in the circadian rhythm and being more active at night were linked to higher depressive symptoms.
“Our findings highlight the importance of stabilizing the internal biological clock during the peripartum period to maintain healthy mood and minimize anxiety,” Benicio Frey, senior author of the study and professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioural neurosciences at McMaster University, said in a press release.
“Given the findings, future efforts should be made to standardize evidence-based interventions targeting these biological rhythms variables identified by our team, either as treatment or prevention strategies.”
The circadian rhythm dictates how our bodies understand when to grow tired and to sleep in a 24-hour period. If thrown off, it can have detrimental effects.
The release states that the three-month period before and after giving birth is one of the most vulnerable time periods for the mental health of the parent in question. Around 15 to 18 per cent of women experience anxiety during the peripartum period, according to the release.
For the study, researchers recruited 100 women in Ontario between November 2015 to May 2018. Out of that sample, 73 women returned for follow-ups at one to three weeks postpartum and six to 12 weeks postpartum, for a total of three study visits.
Participants were asked to report on their own symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as their subjective experiences of sleep. In addition, at each of the three visits, participants were given an actigraph to wear for two weeks — a device that can be worn on the wrist to measure sleep levels objectively.
One interesting aspect of the study was that researchers found different biological rhythms were important to depressive symptoms at different times during the study (i.e., whether the participant was one to three weeks or six to 12 weeks postpartum).
They actually found that at six to 12 weeks, having a more fragmented sleep was linked to decreased depressive symptoms. Researchers suggested that while this might seem counterintuitive, it could be because mothers who were not suffering from depression might have been more able to respond to their babies’ needs during the night.
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.