Abstract # 3196 Maternal sleep loss in postpartum associated with accelerated epigenetic aging

Abstract

Objective: Research has linked poor sleep with biological aging in older adults. In the current analyses, we sought to test the hypothesis that mothers with significant sleep loss during the early postpartum period would exhibit accelerated epigenetic aging. Methods: Mothers were recruited as part of a larger study of pregnancy and postpartum health, called Healthy Babies Before Birth (HB3). Current analyses include 35 mothers (23–45 years) recruited from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA and followed through 12-months postpartum. Women provided blood samples for epigenetic assays at the 12-months postpartum visit. Self-reported short sleep ( .33. Conclusions: Shorter 6-months postpartum sleep duration predicted older epigenetic age (both IEAA and PEAA) at 12-months postpartum. These findings support the hypothesis that early postpartum sleep loss accelerates biological aging.