Maintaining good sleep is a crucial yet often underrated pillar of a person's wellbeing and general health. Despite this, there is limited guidance on how and why the various phases women experience in their lifetime may impact their quality of sleep, and what can be done to improve it.

This practical and accessible guide for health professionals introduces the concept of female sleep health across the lifetime, including key stages such as menstruation, fertility, working life, birth, perimenopause, and menopause. It also addresses sleep disorders, pain, and the impact poor sleep may have on mental health.

Readers will benefit from practical and detailed strategies on improving sleep, guidance on sleep aides and technology, and signposts to when clinical intervention is needed.

This book offers clear, compassionate advice on sleep challenges unique to women of all ages.. As a postmenopausal reader, I especially appreciated the validation and practical strategies for navigating hormonal shifts and disrupted sleep. While many resources are UK-specific, the core insights are empowering and widely applicable. A thoughtful, reassuring read for anyone seeking better sleep and deeper self-understanding. A must read for health care providers.

I think this felt more for doctors, then for regular people. Alot of information though so if a doctor wants to help said people then i suggest this book.

As a woman struggling with sleep due to menopause, I appreciated the opportunity to read and review Dr Sarah Gilchrist's book, The Essential Guide to Women's Sleep. I reviewed the table of contents and quickly jumped to the section "Strategies for Good Sleep Health." Upon reading this section (and having jumped to it without reading the previous chapters), it became quite apparent that this book was written for healthcare professions. This is academic writing and jargon that I am unfamiliar. This book provides comprehensive information about women and sleep, and would be a key resource for healthcare practitioners looking to gain insight into helping clients and patients with improving their sleep. Thank you to Jessica Kingsley Publishing, NetGalley, and Dr. Sarah Gilchrist for this advanced readers copy.

"... over the course of a lifetime, there is an overarching difference in men's and women's sleep and this book is here to explain the whats, the hows and the whys of it."

I want to premise this review with the acknowledgment that this book was written as a guide for healthcare professionals. This shouldn't deter you from wanting to read the material to expand your knowledge of the subject as someone who doesn't work in the medical field. While there a lot of medical jargon within, the author has included an "abbreviations" section at the beginning of the book as a reference for the terms used. I read this digitally, so I just flagged the page so I could jump back to it when needed.

I decided to start reading this book pretending I knew nothing of sleep or any importance of it to women, figuring that would be the best way for me to personally absorb as much information as possible without losing myself to feeling like I was playing a lecture in my head. I'm glad I approached it this way. While there were some things in here that I had previous knowledge of, I was able to easily pick up on the new information and retain it better than I initially thought I would. Thank you to Jessica Kingsley Publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this piece. My opinions on this book are my own. That being said, while this book might not be for everyone (because some may find it intimidating or difficult to read). I think it is definitely worth noting that even if you feel you may not be able to read it yourself, you can still use it as a helpful tool to open the discussion with your healthcare provider.

I thought this was a useful book. It seemed more geared towards practitioners working with a client in some way - but, it would still be accessible to all readers as it was written without too much jargon. It was straightforward and matter of fact and seemed a lot more sensible than a lot of sleep gurus who I always feel could make you more stressed and consequently sleep less than helping you sleep more. Definitely worth a read.