Dr Bronwyn Sweeney

Bronwyn Sweeney joined the Centre in 2007 to complete a psychology honours project and then became a Health Research Council-funded Doctoral scholar as a part of the E Moe, Māmā/Moe Kura study. Within that project, Bronwyn successfully completed a controlled trial of a behavioural/educational sleep intervention, aimed at promoting the sleep of first-time mothers and their babies. She is a qualified childbirth educator and has been involved in antenatal and post-natal education for more than two decades.

Bronwyn holds a PhD in Public Health and is a Registered Clinical Psychologist. She maintains research and clinical interests in maternal and infant mental health as well as behavioural treatments for adults with sleep difficulties such as chronic insomnia.

Bronwyn remains affiliated with the Sleep/Wake Research Centre as an Honorary Research Associate. She is involved in postgraduate thesis supervision and is an advisor on research projects with a focus on mental health.

Related publications

Ladyman, C. I.
Muller, D.
Paine, S. J.
Signal, T. L.
Sweeny, B. M.
ABSTRACT

Moe Kura is a longitudinal study focused on the role of sleep in the health and well-being of mothers and children in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). The leadership, design and conduct of the study is informed by Kaupapa Māori research principles and is positioned within a broader rights-based approach to health, recognising that inequities in health must be identified and understood to improve the health of wāhine Māori and tamariki. In late pregnancy 418 Māori women and 768 non-Māori women were recruited and data collected at four waves (35–37 weeks gestation, 4–6 weeks postpartum, 11–13 weeks postpartum and when the Moe Kura child was 3–4 years of age) with linkage to birth records and national administrative datasets and associated qualitative research. Findings demonstrate substantial inequities in sleep health, infant and maternal health, and maternal employment between Māori and non-Māori, along with the important role of sleep in perinatal health and maternal mental health outcomes. The research philosophy that underpins the study, the primary focus on women, and the detailed measurement of sleep during the childbearing years has provided new and important findings that contribute to intervention development and health policy for women and children in NZ.

Sweeney, B
Signal TL
Babbage DR
Sweeney B, Signal TL, Babbage DR (2020) Effect of a behavioral-educational sleep intervention for first-time mothers and their infants: pilot of a controlled trial. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine Vol. 16, No. 8

Ladyman C
Signal TL
Sweeney B
Gander PH
Paine SJ
Huthwaite M
Clare Ladyman, T. Leigh Signal, Bronwyn Sweeney, Philippa Gander, Sarah-Jane Paine, Mark Huthwaite, A pilot longitudinal sleep education intervention from early pregnancy and its effect on optimizing sleep and minimizing depressive symptoms, Sleep Health, Volume 6, Issue 6, 2020, Pages 778-786, ISSN 2352-7218,

Paine, SJ
Signal, TL
Sweeney, B
Priston, M
Muller, D
Smith, A
Huthwaite, M
Gander, PH
Lee, K
Paine SJ, Signal, TL, Sweeney B, Priston M, Muller D, Smith A, Huthwaite M, Gander PH, Lee, K. (2020). Maternal sleep disturbances in late pregnancy and the association with emergency caesarean section: A prospective cohort study. Sleep Health, 6(1), 65-70.

Sweeney B
Sweeney, B (2019) Sleep changes our lives. Kiwi parent, Oct/Nov 2019; n.292:p.14-18Kiwi parent, Oct/Nov 2019; n.292:p.14-18

Sweeney B
Sweeney, B & Wu, L. (2019). Perceptions, Skills, and Knowledge of Sleep-Related Difficulties and Their Treatment in a Cancer Psychosocial Workforce. Journal of the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists, 29(1), 3-12.

Signal TL
Sweeney B
Muller D
Priston M
Lee K
Gander P
Huthwaite M
Paine S-J
Signal TL, Paine S-J, Sweeney B, Muller D, Priston M, Lee K, Gander P, Huthwaite M (2016). The prevalence of symptoms of depression and anxiety, and the level of life stress and worry in New Zealand Maori and non-Maori women in late pregnancy. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry (2016); 1-9: doi: 10.1177/0004867415622406

Howe LD
Signal TL
Paine SJ
Sweeney B
Priston M
Muller D
Lee K
Huthwaite M
Gander P
Howe LD, Signal TL, Paine SJ, Sweeney B, Priston M, Muller D, Lee K, Huthwaite M, Gander P (2015). Self-reported sleep in late pregnancy in relation to birth size and fetal distress: the E Moe, Mama prospective cohort study. BMJ Open (2015); 5(10): e008910.

Signal TL
Paine S-J
Sweeney B
Priston M
Muller D
Smith A
Lee KA
Huthwaite M
Reid P
Gander P
Signal TL, Paine S-J, Sweeney B, Priston M, Muller D, Smith A, Lee KA, Huthwaite M, Reid P, Gander P (2014). Prevalence of abnormal sleep duration and excessive daytime sleepiness in pregnancy and the role of socio-demographic factors: Comparing pregnant women with women in the general population. Sleep Medicine (2014); 15: pp 1477-1483

Paine S-J
Priston M
Signal TL
Sweeney B
Muller D
Paine S-J, Priston M, Signal TL, Sweeney B, Muller D (2013). Developing new approaches for the recruitment and retention of indigenous participants in longitudinal research. Mai Journal (2013); 2(2): pp 122-132

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Bronwyn Sweeney

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