Findings contributed by Clinical Team member Megan Holm, M.S.
For years, menopausal women have been told that the negative changes they experience in sleep are normal. In fact, many research studies have highlighted the fact that compared to men of a similar age, postmenopausal women’s sleep is quite good. Our data agree; however, there is a key missing piece: Postmenopausal women sleep much worse than premenopausal women.
We believe that postmenopausal women’s complaints about poor sleep are totally warranted, because compared to their younger selves, their sleep is worse. Instead of comparing women to men, we need to be looking at changes to women’s sleep across their lifetime.
We analyzed sleep data from over 1200 women sleeping on the Pod
We surveyed 1,239 female Eight Sleep members and asked them to share their menstrual status (i.e. cycling, not cycling, pregnant, etc.). We had 2 separate groups of women: premenopausal (n=744) and postmenopausal (n=495). We also queried a group of men (n=644) with a similar age range to the postmenopausal women. We compared the 3 groups’ sleep data to each other for a 3 month period of time on the Pod.
We compared objective sleep metrics among premenopausal women, postmenopausal women, and age-matched men
Key Takeaway: postmenopausal women (average: 56.8 years) sleep worse than premenopausal women (average: 37.7 years). But, postmenopausal women sleep better than their age-matched male counterparts (average: 54.4 years).
Postmenopausal women sleep worse than premenopausal women
Several key sleep metrics are worse for postmenopausal women, compared to premenopausal women (see Figure 1).
Compared to premenopausal women, postmenopausal women got on average, each night:
- 14 minutes less total sleep time (TST)
- 8 minutes more time awake after sleep onset (WASO)
- 9 minutes less REM sleep
- 5 minutes less light sleep
Figure 1: Average nightly sleep differences between postmenopausal and premenopausal women. The bar chart illustrates the mean differences in total sleep time (TST), wake after sleep onset (WASO), REM sleep, and light sleep between postmenopausal and premenopausal women. Each bar represents the mean difference in minutes, with the numerical values indicating the magnitude of the change. Negative values (below the dashed zero line) indicate less time for a given metric in postmenopausal women compared to premenopausal women, while positive values indicate more time for a given metric. Error bars show the standard error of the mean (SEM) for each metric.
Postmenopausal women sleep better than age-matched men
The story flips when postmenopausal women are compared to men of the same age, where women sleep better than men (see Figure 2).
Compared to men, postmenopausal women got on average, each night:
-
- 25 minutes more TST
- 6 minutes more REM sleep
- 9 minutes more light sleep
- 10 minutes more deep sleep
Figure 2: Sleep differences between postmenopausal women and age-matched men.The bar chart displays mean differences in total sleep time (TST), REM sleep, light sleep, and deep sleep between postmenopausal women and age-matched men. Each colored bar represents the mean difference in minutes, with positive values (above the dashed zero line) indicating more time for a given sleep metric in postmenopausal women vs. men, and negative values indicating less time. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean (SEM).
Women’s sleep gets worse after menopause
These findings are important because they validate what women have been saying all along: their sleep really does decline with menopause. But by comparing postmenopausal women to premenopausal women and men, we see that sleep gets measurably worse for women across the lifespan, but is not any worse than men of the same age. These findings indicate that the hormonal transition during menopause (e.g. declining estrogen and progesterone) is a key sleep disruptor, not just age alone.
The Pod helps menopausal (peri- and post-menopausal) women sleep
We’ve already shown that the Pod can help peri- and post-menopausal women sleep better: a previous Eight Sleep study found that the Pod reduces nighttime hot flashes by 55%. This matters because 80% of postmenopausal women experience hot flashes. Hot flashes at night can disrupt sleep, and these sleep disruptions ripple into daytime fatigue, reduced cognitive function, and lower quality of life.
The Pod can support better sleep for women in all life stages. As part of our Women’s Sleep Initiative, we introduced Hot Flash Mode in July 2025, delivering rapid cooling relief from nighttime hot flashes. Since launch, it has become a member favorite, with 92% of women disappointed if it were no longer available.
Bottom line: Menopause changes women’s sleep patterns, but with the Pod, they don’t have to lose sleep over it.
