In plain words
Sleep efficiency is the percentage of time spent in bed that is actually spent asleep. If a person is in bed for eight hours and sleeps for six, the sleep efficiency is 75 percent. Sleep specialists often treat 85 percent as a healthy level for adults. Many new mothers fall below that line in the first weeks, because feeds, diaper changes, and soothing break up sleep and add time awake in bed. Sleep efficiency shows fragmentation, but it does not say how someone feels. A mother can have a low number and still feel rested, or a higher number and still feel worn down. It is measured with a wrist device or a sleep diary.
The deeper version
Sleep efficiency is total sleep time divided by time in bed, expressed as a percentage, derived from actigraphy or a sleep diary. A threshold of 85 percent is commonly used as a marker of in adults. In postpartum samples, actigraphy commonly shows sleep efficiency below 85 percent in the early weeks (Montgomery-Downs et al., 2010). Actigraphy can misclassify quiet rest as sleep and the reverse, which is a known limitation. The measure does not capture subjective sleep quality, depressive symptoms, or sleep timing, so clinicians pair it with a diary and symptom screening.
Where it comes up
- Sleep deprivation: what it does and how to survive itPostpartum: Your Body
- Sharing nights: shifts and systemsSupport, Home, and Village
What mothers here say about sleep efficiency
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Sources
- Montgomery-Downs HE et al. — Normative longitudinal maternal sleep: the first 4 postpartum months. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (2010)