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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

'Baby brain'- is it a thing??

45 replies

JuneySunshine · 04/10/2021 19:03

Hello,

Currently 17w and just told my employer about my pregnancy which has started me thinking (obsessing!) about things I'll need to wrap up at work before maternity leave and the reality of doing that while getting more heavily pregnant.

I've heard about 'baby brain' and wanted to hear experiences of this from others who are or have been pregnant. Is it an actual pregnancy symptom? Has it affected you? How? And from what stage of pregnancy? Or is it just something people say to reflect general tiredness/ distractions of later pregnancy/ having a young baby?

I'm lucky to work from home but I'm getting paranoid I just won't be able to get by at work as it can be challenging and take all my concentration/ motivation at the best of times!

Tia

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FTEngineerM · 04/10/2021 19:07

Yes I think it’s the progesterone (?) but I was awful, my employer was cool with it though because let’s face it.. it’s temporary.

I would just not understand things, need to have things explained again, do work incorrectly and have to repeat, offer up solutions that didn’t actually solve the problem because I didn’t understand it in the first place. Generally taking up a lot more of mine and everyone else’s time doing a task.

I hated it.

orangejuicer · 04/10/2021 19:09

It was definitely a thing for me. Just a lack of focus and not able to handle as much at once as I might have done before.

I also noticed a difference with my verbal vocabulary for about 2 years after birth.

ThirdElephant · 04/10/2021 19:10

Yep. It sucks. And it lasts for quite a long time after birth too- studies have shown differences in how the brain of a post partum woman works for five years after birth.

Bancha · 04/10/2021 19:12

It definitely was for me! I used to have a really good memory (I would remember phone numbers I’d used once or twice, type thing), and suddenly got so forgetful! It was really strange, I had to find new ways to work and I felt like I couldn’t rely on my own mind. It was really unsettling for me! I don’t think I’m back to 100% and my DD is 1.5…. And I’m pregnant again so who knows what I’ll be good for in another two years!

MissBPotter · 04/10/2021 19:13

Not for me. Not in three pregnancies. I worked up til 37 weeks and was fine. To be honest I often think this is a way of discriminating against pregnant women ie pushing them out of the workplace as they are thought to be less capable.

My male boss when I was pregnant with dc1 told me loads of people kind of implied to him I was probably incapable of doing my job properly when pregnant. Luckily he was a decent bloke and told them it was fine.

Rosesareyellow · 04/10/2021 19:14

Yes, don’t doubt it. It’s like a weird brain fog - you forget things really easily and things you used to to without much thought suddenly require a lot of concentration. If I hadn’t known it was baby brain or if I felt like that at any other time in my life I would have had serious concerns and seen a GP. It lasted from when I was probably around 8 months pregnant until DS was nearly 1.

MissBPotter · 04/10/2021 19:14

Now I am post partum I would say I have noticed a difference, but I put this down to tiredness!

romdowa · 04/10/2021 19:15

I've serious baby brain going on here. I forget words for things all the time. The most recent was the word for window 🤣🤣

mynameiscalypso · 04/10/2021 19:18

Not for me at all; I was working on a really challenging and complex project right up until I went on maternity leave. The immediate weeks after the birth were a bit different but that was mainly because I was so tired. I started doing a masters a few months after DS was born because my brain needed to be more active.

BrownEyedSquirrel · 04/10/2021 19:20

Not for me. Worked in a high pressure professional job right up until 37 weeks

cushioncovers · 04/10/2021 19:23

Yes absolutely it's a thing. I had it with my first pregnancy a lot.

Chanel05 · 04/10/2021 19:24

Yep. My daughter is 1 and I am SO forgetful.

Hardbackwriter · 04/10/2021 19:24

I didn't have it in either pregnancy, but have since having my second - I've got a noticeably diminished to recall words (words I've been frustratingly unable to bring to mind recently include: potato masher, ISIS, ballerina, augmented and frizzy). I thought it was just lack of sleep but I've more well rested recently and it's persisted. I hope it doesn't go on too long; I'm back at my job, which is mostly writing, in two months so I need my words!

JustAnotherUserinParadise · 04/10/2021 19:27

Post-birth baby brain is definitely a thing, but I'm pretty convinced it's caused by the lack of long periods of sleep!!!
If you got a load of men and didn't let them sleep more than 2 hrs at once for months I bet they'd have it too!!

Crimblecrumble1990 · 04/10/2021 19:31

It's something I definitely noticed after having a baby - I had no attention span, couldn't follow a film without asking loads of questions. But I think it stemmed from tiredness / switching off that part of my brain. I was completely fine at work when I was pregnant. Once forgot how to start my car half way through my pregnancy but think that was just a bit of a blip...

Nillynally · 04/10/2021 19:46

Yes definitely. Worse after birth, I would just forget words and was convinced I had early onset dementia and got quite upset about it! Started to go back to normal after 2 years and now pregnant again! C'est la vie!

shivawn · 05/10/2021 08:23

It's not something that I've experienced so far. I'm 40 weeks now.

ElmtreeMama · 05/10/2021 10:41

Really bad for me, suddenly can't spell simple words, forget basic things, got lost on way home from somewhere local!
Hoping it passes soon after baby is here

MyMabel · 05/10/2021 10:45

I think it’s a board spectrum thing.

I feel like it’s used as an excuse sometimes, and others you are just exhausted, hormones aren't balanced, feeling generally off due to being pregnant and/or a new mum can make you a bit forgetful/flustered.

I found it worse once my first DD was born rather then in pregnancy. But I’m 16 weeks now and find myself forgetting simple things and have silly moments. I’m hoping it will mean I’m slightly more on the ball after birth than last time 😂

mongoosebaby · 05/10/2021 10:58

My memory was awful during pregnancy, I've always had a good one so I wasn't used to it. I had to change how I worked (mostly by writing everything down) and I also had the vocab problem- which was easily fixed with internet thesaurus and help from colleagues. I don't know if it was due to lack of sleep though- I had awful nausea and insomnia in pregnancy so it could have been down to that- impossible to seperate out the two. For me, pregnancy was 9 months of feeling quite unwell- it's not surprising that it would cause issues concentrating.

thesugarbumfairy · 05/10/2021 10:58

I definitely had 'baby brain' but then I didn't get a full nights sleep for 5 years so its hardly a surprise. (neither slept through till they dropped their naps at 2.5)

JasonMomoasgirlfriend · 05/10/2021 11:00

Definitely is for me
I forget words. Stop speaking mid sentence forgetting what I was talking about.
Putting things in stupid places
Difficulty counting or figuring things out

JasonMomoasgirlfriend · 05/10/2021 11:03

And that was all during pregnancy. My son is 2 and I still am not back to "normal" and I am pregnant again 🤦

Bells3032 · 05/10/2021 11:08

100%. I am 23 weeks and so far I have:

tried to walk out the house with no shoes on
Mixed up the times of an appt by 4 hours (I am usually very organised with my diary)
divided 3500 by 100 and got 350
insisted several times over that 5x10 was 500.

I have a maths A-level at grade A

SlipperTripper · 05/10/2021 11:09

Yes, it's forgetting words for me too - am a writer and it's a royal pain in the arse.

Was a million times worse in my first pregnancy, this one (touch wood) isn't as bad, but first time I was frequently in tears when trying to write an article, with my DH and DSD sat with me, administering tea and trying to decipher my weird descriptions.

I write for specific trade publications, so this can be really quite complicated... they learnt so much about the rail network.

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