The Integration of the Maternal Care with Sleep During the Postpartum Period

Abstract

Our entire life occurs in a constant alternation between wakefulness and sleep. The impossibility of living without sleep implies that any behavior must adapt to the need for sleep, and maternal behavior does not escape from this determination. Additionally, maternal behavior in mammals is a highly motivated behavior, essential for the survival of the offspring. Thus, the mother has to adapt her physiology of sleep to the constant demands of the pups, where each species will have different strategies to merge these two physiological needs. However, all studied female mammals will experience sleep disturbances at some point of the postpartum period.

Keywords: Maternal behavior; Milk ejection; NREM; Nursing; Sleep deprivation.