“Participants who received a non-pharmacological intervention for insomnia while they were pregnant continued to experience improvements in insomnia symptoms at 6 months postpartum, and improvements in depressive and anxiety symptoms at 3 and 6 months postpartum,” Felder et al wrote. Participants that received dCBT-I had greater improvements in Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores than those receiving standard of care, but the likelihood ratio test that analyzed both follow-up time points did not show statistical significance at the 5% level ( P =. 02), as well as a lower amount of insomnia cases at 6 months postpartum (25% vs 11% P =. Those in the dCBT-I group did have significantly higher rates of insomnia remission (53% vs 35% P =. Those undergoing dCBT-I reported greater decreases in insomnia symptoms when compared with standard care, but the likelihood ratio test did not show statistical significance when assessing simultaneous changes at both 3 months and 6 months postpartum ( P =. Participants were randomized to receive either 6 weekly sessions of dCBT-I or standard care, with follow-up data reported from both 3 and 6 months postpartum. Felder, PhD, assistant professor, department of psychiatry, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California–San Francisco and research faculty, UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, and colleagues included 208 people up to 28 weeks’ gestation with insomnia.

Additionally, preliminary evidence shows that dCBT-I during pregnancy may also prevent postpartum depression and anxiety. The use of digital cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia (dCBT-I) during pregnancy may have benefits for postpartum insomnia remission, findings from a recent study suggest.

Postpartum insomnia