'Preghead', 'baby brain'... is it real?

[porpoisefull]

At the moment one of the discussions of the day is all about pregnant women recounting the silly things they do 'because they are pregnant'. When I was pregnant, I didn't find I was any more likely than usual to do daft things and I found it quite insulting that people might assume that I was going to be all ditzy. For example shortly after telling my SIL I was pregnant, I said the wrong word in a sentence, and she jumped on it "Ooh, nappy brain already!"

This study suggests it's a myth, and I've always thought people are keen to attribute to female hormones effects that are probably just the result of feeling knackered, or being distracted by having someone kicking at your insides. If a man with a 3 week old child was a bit absent minded at work, people would call it sleep deprivation not 'baby brain'.

I wondered whether other people here thought it was real or a myth?

um. when i was pg in germany, they did actually advise you not to drive from 34 weeks. and i was told that if i had an accident that my insurance would be invalid.

i can't quite square that with the cultural marvel that is germany in the other post...

(that said, i did drive into a sign in the supermarket car park at about 24 weeks, so presumably i should had my insurance revoked earlier...)

disclaimer - my distance perception is always shite. nowt to do with pg...

SGM - are you talking about sleep deprivation as a means of torture for a soldier?

Hormones certainly affect moods, but is there any evidence to suggest they impact on short-term memory or someone's ability to deal with certain levels of complexity?

I certainly find myself more absent-minded when tired, which comes with the territory of being a new mum. Also, I feel very distracted when pg because I have that "inner body awareness" going on which I don't have otherwise. It's like the telly being on in the corner, but not really watched. Your eyes keep straying to it and when they do, you momentarily forget what else you were supposed to be doing.

That would explain why for most pg women it's just as easy to focus on a complex or demanding task as when not pg - you give it your whole attention. But certain more mundane activities - like reversing the car, for example - don't always hold the attention sufficiently to tune out what's going on inside.

I don't believe hormones are responsible for that.

And I agree wholeheartedly with what SGM said on the subject of sleep deprivation.

Yes, it's interesting. Although when I gave birth to dd2 DP had pretty much the same amount of sleep that I did! Surely, sleep deprivation, as a means of torture is not the same as women who are sleep deprived as a result of giving birth and having children? I can understand that if a woman doesn't have a partner or someone to give them a break, they can feel utterly exhausted, but is this this the same as deliberate torture?

not much difference between a baby screaming and waking you up and a bolke crashing into your cell shouting. the effect is the same. both of you are forced to stand up and do something when you need sleep, and are being actively deprived of sleep by another person. the motives of the baby and the torturer might be different, but the effect on the victim/ mother isn't.

bolke? bloke

It bloody feels like deliberate torture, K999!!

Interestingly, experiments where subjects are deliberately deprived of sleep are no longer permitted in the UK because it's so dangerous...

The difference, surely is that you could ignore the baby (of course not advocating this as a course of conduct!) or sleep when the baby sleeps? I know how tiring newborns can be, but it can't be the same as deliberate sleep deprived torture, surely? Or am I missing the point?

That's certainly the theoretical difference, K999!
But I know I found it impossible to ignore DD crying (still do, mostly) and have always had problems "sleeping when the baby sleeps". And I know I'm not the only parent who's like that. So yes, the lack of sleep and lack of opportunity to even hope to catch up on what you've lost can feel utterly relentless after a while.
Sleep deprivation is factor in a lot of cases of PND, I suspect.

towards the end being pg with DS (& feeling a little vague some days), I read about a south eastern mum of twins who had gone into early labour & they couldn't find her NICU beds so they put her in a helicopter & flew her up north. She said in the interview afterwards that she wasn't scared she thought it was really exciting to be in a helicopter. A proper preghead moment.......

IC, I totally get what you're saying! Ex H was useless when had DD1. I pretty much did it all myself and I was exhausted, but after a certain period, your body will shut down and you will sleep. Even if only for 10 minutes. Deliberate sleep deprivation, as a means of torture is different. They don't even allow you one minute.

What's wrong with being excited about being in a helicopter? Presumably the medical team with her had reassured her that they would get to the hospital and not to worry. You seem to implying that she was stupid to feel the way she did with the 'preghead' comment.

Does it really matter if the preg-head is caused by distraction and tiredness or hormones? The OP that is now one of the discussions of the day doesn't attribute it to hormones just being pregnant and all that goes with it.

I did make silly mistakes, like taking my card out of the ATM and walking off without the money, when pregnant with DD1 which I have never done when not gestating but I was distracted and tired.

It would matter if it was being used as a way of belittling or curtailing the activities of pregnant women, i.e. not letting you perform your normal job due to the idea that your hormones have made you slightly useless, but a group of women sharing common experiences about how your tiredness has made you do silly things is part and parcel of finding support and camaraderie at an extraordinary moment of your life. It should also be a safe way to share these experiences as fellow pregnant women will not judge or misinterpret what you say and draw sexist conclusions about your competence. I feel some of the comments on this thread are getting close to suggesting these women who talk about preg-head are being silly fools which actually is condescending.

The women on that thread are not tragic victims of a cultural myth about hormone induced stupidity, they are sharing experiences which are real for them all. Its not really insulting to assume you may be forgetful when pregnant any more than assuming you may have morning sickness, it is only insulting if as a result you are looked down upon and treated differently.

'baby brain' definetly happened to me I was a complete whack job , ditzy all over the place. I think possibly your body is fo focused on the baby's survival that that becomes the main foucs of everything not till like 2 months after BF did I go back to 'normal'

Hi everyone,
these posts caught my eye because I am very interested in the topic of 'Baby Brain' or 'Brain Fog' from a research perspective. This means in reality I am interested in trying to understand what it is and what causes it and why many women report changes in their thinking and memory during pregnancy or after giving birth.

If anybody is interested in sharing their experiences under the mumsnet research area I am advertising for research participants on this topic. Just click on the link below to access the research area and information about this study.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/surveys_students_non_profits_and_start_ups/4051349-A-touch-of-Brain-Fog

Thanks everyone,
Louise

It's a 9 year old thread, @LouiseAnders. I doubt you'll get any joy from bumping it (generally considered "bad form" according to the netiquette of this particular site) - but by all means start a new thread with a link to your survey thread (well done for starting that in the correct section of the site - that will have saved you a deletion from MNHQ).

Assuming you're a student, get your hard hat on now - there are women on here who are very clued up about research methodology int he social sciences, so if you've got any leading questions/ hints that you're coming at this with a pre-prepared hypothesis that you want your questionnaire design to support, you will get it critiqued very robustly.

I never got brain fog when pregnant, but after having my first I found that all my usual "rat runs" were disturbed by having an extra factor in my life all the time. I don't think it was because I was spectacularly tired, because bless him my miraculous sprog was sleeping seven hours at night after less than five weeks. I think it was just Things Were Different and it made everything I did just a little bit different too.

I had to work out again for instance the steps which go into making a cup of coffee put water in kettle, turn on kettle, put instant into mug, get milk from fridge instead of simply doing it without conscious thought. Changing the sheets on my bed had to be thought out rather than done on autopilot. Leaving the house involved the extra steps "don't forget the baby" and "remember to close the door after you have got the baby out through it, don't just walk away". The most spectacular effort was "the chicken goes into the oven to roast, the washing goes into the washing machine, not the other way round for goodness sake!" (only very slight singeing of one sock was involved).

Once I was on a more even keel about the extra person, the routines re-established and I stopped having to think about what steps needed taking about every single damn thing I did.

Might it be that, like with every other aspect of pregnancy, some women will be affected in this way and some women won't?

Seems most likely. As with more physical effects. I have known women who worked with no ill effects until the last second before birth and women who were hospitalised for much of the 9 months.
Wouldn't be surprised if it was the same here.

Oh. I didn't spot the date at first and got all excited at some of the posters name. How sad.

I definitely have baby brain!

@LouiseAnders one heck of an area when you consider the number physical conditions that can give brain fog that can be a direct result of pregnancy. Eg anaemia, hypothyroidism etc, some of which women may not be aware of till later on.