Does Being Pregnant Affect Your Memory?

When I was pregnant someone once suggested that I must have 'baby brain' and I imagine he never said that again to a pregnant woman because I bit his head off. I was insulted and certainly did not think my memory or ability to think was effected by being pregnant. However, pregnancy manuals have historically told "  women they are likely to experience memory and concentration problems". Now a study being published in the British Journal of Psychiatry has found what I knew to be true. Pregnant women have equal ability to non-pregnant women in cognitive speed, working memory, immediate recall and delayed recall.

The research is important because it dispels the stereotype of pregnant women or new mothers as performing suboptimally.
In terms of employment and putting women on important tasks, there may be a tendency to think "Oh well, she’s pregnant, so maybe she won’t be fully on the ball," said Dr. Christensen. "That attitude still exists. I think our study challenges that idea and shows that women have exactly the same level of functioning."

Read the entire article at Medscape

Cognition in pregnancy and motherhood: prospective cohort study.

Sabra Way MNIMH

Editor in Chief and Founder, Galen's Watch

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