It’s a common claim that pregnancy makes you forgetful. But does pregnancy make your brain really shrink? There’s no doubt that many changes happen to a woman’s body during pregnancy, but how do these changes affect – or originate in – the brain?
There are hormonal imbalances taking place due to our variant moods swings and physical changes. This perpetual changing state of mind is called “momnesia”, “pregnancy brain” or “brain shrink”. During pregnancy, you tend to forget things, have memory issues, feel disconnected, get emotional and suffer from sleep deficiency. These sudden changes in our lifestyle are the result of our body adapting to the new experience.
Pregnancy does change a woman’s brain, in both temporary and permanent ways. Almost from the moment of conception, a woman’s brain begins to change and develop new circuitry to prepare her for motherhood. In the first few months of pregnancy, the brain changes how it processes sensory information, including how it reacts to olfactory signals. The brain becomes extremely sensitive to smells, to steer women away from eating foods that might harm the developing foetus.
Pregnancy is a tough time for all the women as they are restricted from doing many things to protect the babies in the womb. They may never get that slim body back but the brainpower which they gain during this period is long-lasting. For all the pain and discomfort of carrying a child, women are rewarded with fantastically flexible brains that could make them better problem-solvers.
The “pregnancy brain” makes women more sensitive, more adaptable, and more nurturing. In short, “pregnancy brain” is what turns a woman into a mom.
