{
  "abstract": "Objectives: Sleep loss is a common experience amongst first-time parents and can result in postpartum fatigue. There is a lack of research on first-time parents’ lived experiences of sleep and sleep loss, and its associated effects on mental health, parental relationships, and overall wellbeing as new parents. We examined first-time parents’ perceptions, experiences and attitudes to sleep loss, tiredness and wellbeing during the first six months postpartum in Ireland. Methods: One-to-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with fourteen first-time parents (female n = 10, male n = 4) from October to December 2025. The interviews took place online. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings: Four themes were identified: 1) the gendered experience of sleep as a new parent, 2) (in)ability to sleep, 3) postpartum wellbeing struggles and 4) resilience and adapting. These themes highlighted how first-time parents navigate their sleep in their new role as a mother or father, their difficulty getting adequate sleep, complex wellbeing struggles as a result of sleep loss, and the discovery of new ways to function when dealing with sleep loss in the postpartum period. Conclusions: These findings highlight the need for healthcare professionals to recognise postpartum sleep loss as both a physiological and psychological experience, and to incorporate holistic, routine discussions of sleep into postnatal care.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "School of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland",
    "School of Psychology, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland"
  ],
  "article_type": "Research Article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Shannon Hughes Spence",
      "orcid": "0009-0006-3874-8155"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Aileen Leech"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Hannah Goss"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Siobhán O’Connor",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2001-0746"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Sinéad Smyth"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Anna Donnla O’Hagan"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/55wz0w13snmcm.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1371/journal.pone.0347558",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13712679/",
  "id": "55wz0w13snmcm",
  "issns": [
    "1932-6203"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0347558",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
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  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Age Groups"
    ],
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      "heading",
      "Biology and Life Sciences"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
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    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Breast Feeding"
    ],
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      "heading",
      "Children"
    ],
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      "heading",
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    ],
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      "heading",
      "Families"
    ],
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      "heading",
      "Fathers"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Fatigue"
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      "heading",
      "Infants"
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      "2739|Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum"
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      "/Medicine and health sciences/Women's health/Maternal health/Breast feeding"
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      "/Medicine and health sciences/Women's health/Obstetrics and gynecology/Birth"
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      "/People and places/Population groupings/Families/Children/Infants"
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  "pdf_url": "https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0347558&type=printable",
  "pmcid": "PMC13712679",
  "pmid": "42945339",
  "published": "2026-10-27",
  "publisher": "Public Library of Science",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/55wz0w13snmcm.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:17Z",
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  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "heading:Biology and Life Sciences",
      "subfield": "general"
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    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "heading:Physiology",
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    {
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      "origin": "heading:Mental Health and Psychiatry",
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      "origin": "plos:pediatrics",
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  "title": "“Tired but wired” - First-time parents lived experiences of sleep loss, tiredness and wellbeing during the first six months postpartum",
  "title_text": "“Tired but wired” - First-time parents lived experiences of sleep loss, tiredness and wellbeing during the first six months postpartum",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-31T12:23:12Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/55wz0w13snmcm",
  "venue": "PLOS One",
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}