Congrats. You made it. You gave birth to your baby.

What to expect now?

You probably heard or even experienced it yourself: New mums are forgetful, unable to concentrate, too emotional and hypersensitive. Colloquial, we call it “Baby Brain”.

But what if there were more behind baby brain than all the negative associations that we have with it? What if there were some really good things happening? What if there were actual changes going on in a mother's brain structure? What if those changes could be linked to maternal caregiving?

Actual brain changes

Studies indicate that the human brain undergoes dramatic changes during pregnancy and the postpartum period. A computer algorithm can tell if a woman has been pregnant from an MRI scan because there are changes that purely happen from pregnancy. Those changes are significant and are designed to support mums in managing the new and demanding tasks of mothering and building strong relationships with their babies.

So what are those brain changes?

Increased ability to learn and adapt to change

There is an increase in brain plasticity happening. Brain plasticity is the brain’s ability to change and adapt. An increase means that your brain is more open to change and learning which is amazing because having a baby and becoming a mother is a huge change and brings a new identity, a new role, new responsibilities and tasks. There are many new things to learn with a newborn.

Your brain is re-prioritising and that means that you might forget things that are not important in that moment because your brain embraces areas linked to maternal caregiving, emotional regulation and social cognition, like empathy and sensitivity towards your baby.

How good is it to know that your brain is preparing and helping you to learn to be a mum and care for your baby? I think that is pretty amazing.

Increased ability to love

The other big change that is happening is an increase in production and receptivity to oxytocin. Oxytocin is colloquially called the hormone of love. It’s for connection and bonding and increases when we feel good and loved.

Oxytocin plays a major role in birth but is as important in your early motherhood journey.

Some of the benefits of oxytocin other than bonding with your baby are:

• Tolerance to boredom and monotony - this is super helpful because the first few weeks with a newborn consist of changing nappies, feeding your baby, soothing your baby to sleep, changing nappies, feeding, soothing…a repetitive monotony and you have more tolerance to that!

• Feeling relaxed - it makes you being more in the moment and makes the rest of the world not exist because all you should do is being cocooned in your house with your baby and partner. It can make you forget everything else and that is not a bad thing, that’s how it should be and that’s why you have people around you, supporting and nourishing you.

• Helps with breastfeeding

• Helps with wound healing

• Increases nutritional uptake.

Oxytocin peaks the best when we feel loved and cared for and in the absence of stress and workload. What can that look like in your fourth trimester? Having loving support around you, someone who cooks for you, makes sure you are warm and get some sleep, someone who listens without judgment and who takes care of the household.

Embracing Baby Brain

It is true that “Baby Brain” makes you being a bit gooey and mushy, forgetful and lost in the moment but those are not random changes. Your brain is re-prioritising and re-wiring for more loving and learning in order to make you a healthy and happy mother so that you can have healthy and happy babies.

The right nutrients can support your brain function. Check out Post Birth Vitality to get your postpartum nutrients. (You can get free shipping on the cylinder with the code MUMSOASIS).

Sources:

I learned a lot about Baby Brain in my postpartum studies with Julia Jones from Newborn Mothers. Listen to her podcast “What is Baby Brain?”

NCBI: Barba-Müller, Erika et al. “Brain plasticity in pregnancy and the postpartum period: links to maternal caregiving and mental health.” Archives of women's mental health vol. 22,2 (2019): 289-299. doi:10.1007/s00737-018-0889-z

NCBI: Kim, Pilyoung. “Human Maternal Brain Plasticity: Adaptation to Parenting.” New directions for child and adolescent development vol. 2016,153 (2016): 47-58. doi:10.1002/cad.20168