What is pregnancy brain?

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Pregnancy brain, also known as baby brain, is a phenomenon that happens to pregnant women where they experience brain fog, trouble concentrating, absent-mindedness, and memory problems.

Scientists who tested this experience discovered that changes in hormones and the brain’s structure cause these symptoms.

Symptoms of Pregnancy Brain

Symptoms that occur from pregnancy brain include:

poor concentration
absent-mindedness
memory loss
brain fog
forgetfulness
inability to recall information

Though pregnancy brain symptoms are temporary, they can wreak havoc on your day to day life. Later in this article we’ll go over some ways to manage these symptoms.

What causes pregnancy brain?

Pregnancy brain is caused by the changes in hormones, estrogen, and progesterone, produced in the body.

Production of these female sex hormones increases during pregnancy. These hormones also affect the brain through specific chemical channels.

While many of these effects alter water balance, appetite, energy, and stress, these can have a lot of impact on concentration and memory which causes what we know as pregnancy brain.

First-time pregnancies also introduce the production of new hormones in the body. Exposure to new hormones alters the control of your body’s neuroendocrine system that makes and releases hormones.

Does your brain shrink during pregnancy?

Yes, some scientists have found shrinking of the cerebral cortex and in cerebral blood flow.

(The cerebral cortex is the outer layer of your brain composed of folded gray matter.)

These changes are closely related to gut health and metabolism playing an important role in the gut-brain connection.

Scientists verify the changes in gray matter using brain scans. While observing the changes in brain matter, scientists also saw a change in the hippocampus in pregnant women, which is associated with memory.

Scientists hypothesize that women’s brains shrink during pregnancy because the brain is in a limited space and the body is preparing for the developments needed after birth, such as mother-baby bonding, social cognition, and motivation.

Your brain shrinks while the belly grows! Learn how to prevent stretch marks here!

Is pregnancy brain real?

Pregnancy brain a.k.a. pregnancy fog is very real.

Scientists have proven that women have cognitive and memory problems during pregnancy by performing tests on pregnant women.

While some scientists perform cognitive tests on women during pregnancy, others study their brain scans. Even without these tests, brain scans suggest that changes in the brain structure in women during pregnancy affect cognition and memory.

How long does pregnancy brain last?

Baby brain is reported in pregnant women as early as the first trimester and lasts postpartum. Studies on baby brain analyzed women as far as 4 months post birth with lasting cognitive dysfunction.

A study in 1990 performed cognitive tests on women in the 36th week of pregnancy, within 3 days after delivery, then at 3, 6, and 12 months postpartum. These tests showed no significant change for birth to 3-month tests, but an increase in performance during the 6 and 12-month tests.

The test results suggest that the pregnancy brain fog should last no longer than 6 months and should completely dissipate 12 months postpartum.

Fortunately for us, this means that there are no long-lasting effects of baby brain and the changes that come along with it.

How to deal with pregnancy brain

Not to worry, baby brain doesn’t last forever and there are ways you can manage it.

Eat nutritious meals

Your prenatal vitamins have all the nutrients you need for your and your baby’s healthy development.

However, it’s beneficial to both you and the baby to eat nutritious meals along the way.

Not only does this help with development, but it may also ail your pregnancy brain symptoms.

In general, fruits and vegetables should be a staple in your everyday diet. Other foods with nutrients for a healthy brain include cereals, nuts, and olive oil.

Scientifically, the components of the food you should increase include polyunsaturated fatty acids(PUFAs), and eicosapentaenoic acid(EPA).

Recent studies find that brain health is relative to your gut health, so high-fiber diets are beneficial in helping the pregnancy brain fog you may experience.

Exercise your brain

What’s better than a leisure activity during pregnancy? A leisure activity that helps your brain fog!

Educational games are at our fingertips and these games can help keep your brain sharp during the baby-brain phase of pregnancy.

Games like puzzles, card games, board games, and apps improve cognitive abilities. App stores now include games that are meant to exercise your brain.

By exercising your brain, you can help your pregnancy brain by increasing cognitive function.

Use a calendar

I have several calendars to help me remember appointments, to-dos, and little bits here and there that save me while pregnant.

Use a planner to write down important dates and times that may slip your mind. Writing down the appointment or things to do helps you remember them better.

The most convenient calendar is the one on your phone. This allows you to set reminders and alarms to prepare you for anything that comes up. Especially those monthly doctor appointments.

Note apps on your phone are the perfect place to keep a list of things you have to remember that don’t have a specific date or deadline. It allows you to make multiple pages of notes right inside your pocket.

Be understanding

This goes for you and your partner. Be understanding of the changes going on with your body, including your brain.

Brain fog and memory relapses are common during pregnancy, so forgive yourself if you forget an appointment or where you put your keys.

Explaining this to the people around you will also help them understand where you’re coming from and they may even pitch in to use some of their brain power in place of yours.

A good support system is something good to have during pregnancy, but especially during the forgetful moments.

Meditate

One of the many reasons you will experience pregnancy brain is stress. Having a baby comes with a lot of stress, but you also feel stress a lot more strongly because of your hormones.

Meditation can reduce the adverse effects of stress if you practice before a stressful event.

It’s also proven to manage anxiety, reduce symptoms of diseases, and increase focus.

While meditation can help manage stress, it can also help quiet the noise in your brain to help you focus.

Try these pregnancy workouts instead!

Write things down

This tip helps me, especially at work. Writing things on a post-it note or a notepad will help you reference something you’ve thought of earlier in the day.

Rest

Another reason why you’ll get symptoms of pregnancy brain is because of fatigue. For your brain to function properly, get sufficient rest.

Without rest, anyone will experience lapses of attention, delayed responses, forgetfulness, and other cognitive issues. Adding the brain and hormone changes during pregnancy and those symptoms will amplify.

Overall

Pregnancy brain is a real pregnancy symptom that a majority of pregnant women will go through. Just add forgetfulness and brain fog to the list of terrible symptoms for us!

Don’t worry, these symptoms won’t last your whole life. Plus, you can manage these symptoms with apps and little lifestyle changes.

Even though pregnancy brain will affect your life, it will go away about 6 months postpartum. Be sure to use these tips to help you throughout the pregnancy.

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