Fuzzy thinking is totally normal! But when it persisted after having a baby 11 years ago, Mrs Helen Adekola, could not but wonder if anything was wrong with her.
“Really? I actually heard about it before I got pregnant. Now 11 years later, I have a useless memory and always have a pen and notepad cause if I don’t write things done immediately; I forget in five minutes. I’ve also found that actual writing not typing helps me remember better,” retorted Mrs Adekola.
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For Mrs Naomi Haruna, difficulty in remembering and doing things that may not make a lot of sense started when she was five months pregnant.
“When it happened to me, I thought I was the only one experiencing such, so I didn’t think to ask around or to research it, “she stated.
But on the other hand, a lot of women find that they have some kind of memory loss or other cognitive impairment during pregnancy and even three months afterwards, a phenomenon that is commonly termed “pregnancy brain” or “baby brain”.
For some women it feels like a very present part of their motherhood that they easily laugh off as a little pregnancy quirk, but others can find it frustrating because they are having trouble focusing, remembering things or reading.
While pregnancy brain — or the feeling of forgetfulness, inattention, and mental fogginess that sometimes accompany pregnancy — are common complaints, not all studies support the idea that women experience decline in cognitive abilities during pregnancy.
But it is certainly not something that should be underestimated in pregnant women or assumed as a myth. In a new study, researchers at Deakin University found that overall cognitive functioning was poorer in pregnant women than in non-pregnant women.
The researchers in the study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, had carried out a meta-analysis of 20 studies that reported a link between pregnancy and cognition.
They found that general cognitive functioning, memory and executive functioning were significantly reduced during the third trimester of pregnancy, but not during the first two trimesters.
It was said that the decline starts to happen between the first and the second trimester, and then look like they stabilise, but are most obvious in the third trimester.
That said, they said it was important to note that while the pregnant women didn’t do brilliantly in the tests, they were still performing well within the normal range.
As such, while some women might not feel as “sharp” as usual during pregnancy, it is thought that these effects are unlikely to have a dramatic impact on everyday life.
While a clear cause for the changes in thinking and memory during pregnancy is yet to be fully understood, it comes up often that you cannot call it a myth, said Dr Adenike Bello, a consultant obstetrics and gynaecologist, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State.
She declared, “the reality is that pregnancy brain does happen. I have a personal experience of pregnancy brain too. Before, you had an excellent short and long-term memory. Now, when you are taking care of a new baby, you just find out that you are forgetting so many things.”
Dr Bello said that pregnancy brain is thought to be caused by the surge in hormones women experience during pregnancy, but that a variety of other factors such as sleep deprivation can contribute to the forgetfulness.
According to her, “sometimes this forgetfulness can be explained by something as simple as sleep deprivation or lack of sleep because the woman is taking care of a new baby. But the reality is that pregnancy brain does happen.”
But pregnancy brain or baby brain phenomenon, or, more colloquially, “momnesia” is a condition that Professor Olalekan Adetoro, a consultant obstetrics and gynaecologist in Sagamu, Ogun State, said may be transient.
He said that pregnancy brain usually occurs in the early part of pregnancy or late stages of pregnancy, adding that it is totally different from other conditions that women have after child delivery such as Postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis.
Professor Adetoro, however, said that pregnancy brain is not likely to affect the woman’s brain permanently if the pregnancy is complicated.
According to him, “A pregnancy can be complicated by so many things such as diabetes in pregnancy and high blood pressure. Where the woman does not have adequate care for such, it can affect her brain and other systems in the body of the woman. But rarely will it affect the unborn baby if the health of the mother is not impacted negatively.”
Pregnancy is a period marked by massive changes in the body, including dramatic hormonal shifts, and in recent years psychologists have become increasingly interested in learning more about how pregnancy affects mothers, both physically and mentally.
While there is a great deal of research on the interaction between women’s physical health and prenatal development, only fairly recently have researchers began to look into the ways that having a child affects women both physically and mentally.
Some researchers from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and IMIM believe that these brain changes help make expectant mothers better prepared for the rigours of caring for a newborn, such as improving her abilities to cope with stress while also making her more attuned to her infant’s needs. The research was published in Nature Neuroscience.
Using magnetic resonance imaging, the scientists have been able to show that the brains of women who have undergone the first pregnancy present significant reductions in grey matter in regions associated with social cognition.
However, the exact causes of pregnancy brain are likely multifaceted. A combination of hormonal changes increased stress levels, and sleep disturbances might all contribute to difficulties with memory and attention that pregnant and postpartum women report experiencing.
There may also be an evolutionary aspect to it. It has been postulated that, from an evolutionary standpoint, this memory impairment may be helpful so that women will forget about other stuff and focus on caring for the child.
Many pregnant women and new mothers spend a lot of time thinking about the changes that having a baby will bring or taking care of their newborn. As a result, their short-term memory may suffer.
But, making changes can help cope with pregnancy brain. These include:
- Keep a daily calendar or the calendar app on the phone, or carry a small planner with you.
- Store things you use often, such as keys, in the same place.
- Set alarms and notifications. Schedule alerts for important meetings or tasks on your phone or computer.
- Use a note-taking app to keep track of important notes and set reminders.
- Get plenty of sleep to help refresh your memory and be alert mentally every day.
- Ask for help from family and friends, a lightened load means less stress, which can affect your ability to remember things.
- Take a break from multitasking and prioritize what’s necessary and what’s not.
and then