Originally published June 11 2005
Motherhood more stressful to modern mothers, UK survey says
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A UK survey found that modern mothers are getting less sleep -- taking longer to put their babies to sleep and settle them down when they wake up during the night -- compared to mothers in the 60s and 70s. Researchers questioned 4,000 mothers and grandmothers about their sleeping habits after they had a baby, and found that modern mothers average about three and a half hours of sleep a night and were awakened three times a night by fussy babies. Sixty percent surveyed said motherhood affected their sex lives, while 80 percent said it affected their jobs.
Modern mothers also take double the time to put their babies to sleep.
They took around 56 minutes to get this task done, while their own mothers accomplished it in 28 minutes.
51 percent of modern mothers said that they breast-fed their baby to sleep, while 41 percent cuddled them to sleep.
Two-thirds of the mothers surveyed admitted that the lack of sleep was affecting their personal as well as professional lives and that they felt irritated with their partners and were sometimes literally in tears.
60 percent felt that motherhood interfered with their sex lives, while 80 percent said that it affected their jobs.
Elena Dalrymple, the editor of Mother & Baby, said that changing times were responsible for these results, "Today's working parents are so time poor, and their anxiety to get baby to sleep actually prevents baby from falling asleep.
Sleep starvation is a huge problem for today's parents," she admitted.
She added that unreasonable expectations placed on modern mothers also contributed towards the lack of sleep.
"Back in the Sixties and Seventies most mums didn't work and therefore weren't so anxious about getting baby to bed.
And dad didn't have to worry because looking after the baby was mum's full-time job.
Life is much harder for today's parents," Ms Dalrymple observed.
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