‘I could cope so much better if I could just get a good night’s sleep.’ This regularly repeated phrase from friends and mothers far and wide (as well as herself) is what prompted Clare Ladyman into the field of sleep science. Clare’s PhD looked at how sleep and mental health are related throughout the pregnancy and postnatal periods, and how providing information on sleep can help reduce the likelihood of mothers experiencing depression. She completed her research studies at the Sleep/Wake Research Centre, Massey University, Wellington, and now lives in Perth, Western Australia, with her husband and two teenage boys (who finally now sleep… a lot).
