Our Past Projects
Learn about our completed studies and community-based projects through our visual research summaries.
Sleep GOALS Pilot Trial
After childbirth, many women find it hard to lose the weight gained during pregnancy, which can affect long-term health. While many postpartum programs focus on diet and physical activity, sleep—an important factor influencing both health and behavior—is often overlooked
Our study’s goal was to understand the effectiveness of sleep interventions in post-birth health. By providing participants with online courses, wearable devices, and a personal coach, we were able to effectively determine that our methods show promising results to inform an expanded study.
Prenatal Sleep Hygiene Intervention
Sleep disturbances are common during pregnancy and are linked to adverse maternal health outcomes, yet few scalable interventions exist. This trial tested the feasibility (will people use it?) and preliminary efficacy (does it really work?) of a brief sleep hygiene intervention combined with wearable sleep tracking devices. Pregnant participants were randomized in mid-pregnancy to receive either nurse-delivered sleep education alone or sleep education plus a personal health monitoring device worn continuously for 12 weeks.
The study demonstrated high feasibility, strong retention, and excellent adherence to wearable use. Participants using the wearable device showed greater improvements in sleep quality and has less daytime sleepiness compared to education alone, with clinically meaningful improvements observed in over half of the intervention group. Findings informed the design of larger trials and future technology-enabled sleep interventions during pregnancy.
KL2
The KL2 is a career development award funded by the University of Pittsburgh’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute, designed to train early-stage researchers to build independent research programs. As part of this grant, Dr. Hawkins conducted a three-part study on sleep, physical activity, and postpartum weight retention:
1. First, this study analyzed how sleep and physical activity patterns changed from mid-pregnancy through one year postpartum. Using data from 920 women in the GDM2 trial and 350 women in the PMOMS study, researchers identified which sleep patterns were linked to greater postpartum weight retention.
2. Next, researchers interviewed approximately 20 new mothers about their sleep experiences to inform intervention design
3. Lastly, they built and tested a 12-week online program combining sleep and physical activity support for new moms.
The purpose was to generate data on how sleep and exercise work together to affect postpartum weight, which is an angle that had never been studied before. This data continues to fuel new research in the lab today.
