Prenatal maternal sleep and maternal-infant attachment: a systematic review.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Maternal-infant attachment is essential for children's socioemotional and cognitive development. Secure attachment supports emotional regulation, while insecure attachment is linked to adverse mental health outcomes. While prenatal stress and depression are known predictors of attachment, the impact of prenatal maternal sleep is underexplored, despite poor sleep affecting 75% of pregnant individuals by the third trimester. Given the overlap between sleep disturbances, stress, and depression, disrupted sleep may contribute to impaired infant attachment. This systematic review evaluates evidence linking prenatal sleep and maternal-infant attachment.

Methods

We searched PUBMED, Web of Science, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and SCOPUS for studies published from 2000 to 2024. Stud

SUBMITTER: Crandall AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12713894 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature