If you are or have ever been pregnant, you probably know exactly what pregnancy brain is. But if you try to describe it to someone who has never heard of it, you might not be able to! It is actually a common pregnancy side effect that is poorly understood.

What Pregnancy Brain Feels Like

A lot of people don’t recognize that they feel different. Other people notice big changes. You might notice some or ALL of the following:

• Forgetfulness
• Loss of focus
• Trouble concentrating
• Clumsiness
• Slow thinking or response time
• Brain fog

Sometimes it’s really hard to describe. Some people report that they just don’t feel like themselves. Things might feel harder, or time might feel like it’s moving more slowly or quickly.

What Pregnancy Brain Looks Like

Even when you might not notice anything different, other people around you might! I remember being pregnant for the first time and realizing that my job had gotten a lot easier. It seemed like there just wasn’t much work to do anymore. Later, my boss told me that she just kept the work away from me, because I was making so many mistakes! I didn’t realize I was making those mistakes, but that was a little bit of a wake-up call for me, and I started to notice some of the other changes. I was definitely more clumsy, and just had a harder time keeping my thoughts organized. I’ve heard plenty of stories about people doing strange things during pregnancy. Some of my favorites:

• Finding their phone in the refrigerator
• Leaving the car running in the driveway all night
• Putting multiple cribs on the baby registry
• Forgetting their own baby shower!

How the Brain Changes

This is going to sound a little bit scary, but there is an actual physical reason for pregnancy brain. Saying “it’s hormonal” is an oversimplification and an understatement. That is definitely happening, but there’s more.

Researchers have been studying the pregnant brain using MRI scans. They have discovered some very interesting changes.

• The actual volume of the brain decreases significantly. You actually have less gray matter during pregnancy! So you can literally say that you have less brain. That’s the part that sounds a little scary, and also like it might account for the pregnancy brain symptoms.
• There is an increase in white matter throughout the brain during pregnancy. White matter increases are also observed when someone is developing a new skill such as learning an instrument. I like to think that the brain is restructuring during pregnancy to help us be great parents!
• There is also an increase in the volumes of cerebrospinal fluid in the C-shaped cavities called lateral ventricles in the brain.
• Some of these changes are at least partly permanent, while others go back to baseline after pregnancy.

The Role of Hormones in Pregnancy Brain

It does seem like hormones are the trigger for these brain changes. Your steroid hormone levels, including estrogen and progesterone can increase by 100 to 1,000 percent during pregnancy. These big hormonal increases definitely seem to be what cause the changes in the brain. So in that way, pregnancy brain is hormonal. But it’s more than that. The hormonal changes can have a big impact on the way you feel and how you operate, but add the actual change in brain volume to that, and you get pregnancy brain.

Managing Pregnancy Brain

Here are some tips to help you manage pregnancy brain:

• Use recurring phone alarms. Did you know you can probably even speak the command into your phone? “Set a daily alarm to take my vitamins at 8am.”
• Do double checks. For example, before you leave the house, have a checklist. Did you do everything? Do you have everything?
  • Turn off lights
  • Turn off stove
  • Phone
  • Keys
  • Shopping list
  • Etc.
• Pack separate bags for things and keep them near your door or wherever you keep your keys. If you’re going to the gym, take your gym bag. If you’re going to work, take your work bag. It can be pre-packed with everything you need for that activity so you don’t forget something as you’re rushing out the door. 
• Ask someone else to double check things for you, especially at work! You might have a sympathetic co-worker who can read over your emails before you send them, or double check your work before you finalize things. 
• Give yourself extra space. Recognize that your spatial awareness and judgment might be a little off.  To avoid bumping into people and things, you might just exaggerate the space you give. 
• Set up routines or do some “coupling”. To avoid forgetting things, try adding things into your already well-established routines (the things you never forget). For example, start keeping a glass for water next to your toothbrush. Every time you brush your teeth, this can remind you to drink a glass of water. You have “coupled” teeth brushing with water drinking. Maybe you can couple your pelvic floor physical therapy with watching your favorite show. 

What Does This Mean For YOU?

The restructuring of your brain during pregnancy happens in a certain order. Certain things happen in the second trimester, others in the third. I like to think this means that you get time to adapt, so you might even be thinking more clearly at the end of pregnancy. Science has been able to see WHAT is happening in there, but they can only guess at WHY. I think it’s fun to make up those reasons for ourselves now. I like to think that these brain changes are providing us with necessary coping mechanisms. Our brains have to reorganize and restructure to help us deal with what’s happening in our bodies, and also to help us prepare to care for a small vulnerable baby. It’s a brain workout in preparation for parenthood.

I think it’s also great to remember that pregnancy is a big deal. Your body is doing some very amazing and challenging things, even while you’re just sitting or sleeping. I think this means that you should take it easy on yourself. It’s ok to do a little less of the things you were doing before. If you’re making a lot of mistakes at work like I did, ask about lightening your workload a little or finding things to do that are less critical or delicate. Don’t beat yourself up when you make mistakes, forget things, or lose something. This is just part of the deal when you’re growing a baby. Your body is strong and wise and knows what it’s doing. You might even embrace it and write down the bloopers so you can laugh about it later.

References:

Brain changes observed during pregnancy | National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Neuroanatomical changes observed over the course of a human pregnancy – PMC

Change in the Brain’s White Matter: The role of the brain’s white matter in active learning and memory may be underestimated – PMC