Memory losses are certainly one of the most amazing and confusing symptoms of pregnancy. Pregnant, it’s very simple, we forget everything! Opinion of neurosciences, psychic and biological explanations, the point with Mathilde Bouychou, psychologist.
When they are Pregnant, future mothers tend to forget everything! Also called Baby Brain, memory loss during pregnancy is a fairly common phenomenon. In addition to fatigue, the lack of everyday concentration tends to amplify these small oversights.
Loss of pregnant memory: at what month of pregnancy?
These memory losses often occur in early pregnancy. Nina, mother of two granddaughters, remembers a particularly funny episode of her pregnancy:“While I left my house, I remember that my handbag seemed to me heavy. In reality, I was holding in my hand (in addition to my bag), a large cup of smoking coffee. I had taken it without realizing it so much I had my head elsewhere“.” Having your head in the clouds “, This is an expression that concerns most future mothers!
The keys disappear, the code of the building becomes an enigma, the meetings are forgotten … In summary, the brain seems to work in slow motion! Mathilde Bouychou, psychologist specializing in perinatality, frequently finds it in consultation: “My patients feel a cognitive and psychological change. They are less concentrated and can have memory losses “.
Pregnant, why do I have memory losses?
For the psychologist, no doubt, something is going well on the neurobiological level: “Recent studies have shown that During pregnancy, a woman’s brain changes. The right brain, that of emotions, takes precedence over the left brain, which refers to rationality and thought. This induces a real upheaval and promotes the emergence of hypersensitivity, but also of cognitive disorders“. An American study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience In 2017 also showed that the amount of gray substance decreased during pregnancy. These changes are closely linked to hormonal upheavals that upset pregnant women.
In fact, this can result in different ways, notably by Recurring oversightthe impression of having a misty spirit, but also concentration disorders. “Beyond these aspects, women must accept that the body cannot be everywhere! Interests change, also motivations and the baby needs this refocusing to grow well “. And if these changes that we interpret as negatives were actually the sign that, little by little, The mind also makes a place for this future baby?
“Future mothers cannot be everywhere at the same time”
If pregnancy is a huge upheaval in terms of body, it is also psychologically. “”It can really be akin to an identity crisis. Becoming a parent means that one reactivates his own birth story. As we were expected, how we were born. All this is sensory memory and the reactivation of this memory is sometimes painful or complicated for certain women“Confirms Mathilde Bouychou. These cognitive disorders are then the simple reflection of a deep psychic reshuffle. The future mother refocus on her, on her baby, and pays less attention to the small everyday events.
Do the oversights continue after pregnancy?
Magali, mother of a 10 month old boy, says: “I remember having moments when I felt like I was no longer having a brain. On the other hand, no specific example comes back to me. I believe that memory has never resurfaced! “.
If the young mother shares her story with a smile, Mathilde Bouychou is rather confident on this point: “That future mothers are reassuring. Yes, this state is absolutely transient and completely normal. It is however important not to hesitate to talk to a professional if these symptoms are badly experienced”. The impact of a pregnancy on cognitive functioning can be felt up to two years after childbirth. But this refocusing on oneself can also be beneficial for future mothers. “Many pregnant women say they learned a lot about that during this period and acquired a new balance, more in agreement with their aspirations,” said the psychologist.
Thanks to Mathilde Bouychou, psychologist in Paris
