Mummy or Pregnancy Brain: What it is and How to Cope With It (Part One)

Mark Wealth

There are many names for this phenomenon. Some call it “pregnancy brain” or “mummy brain” while others call it “maternal forgetfulness” and it’s been scientifically proven to be a real issue.

Researches have revealed that during pregnancy, the brain reduces a bit in size. When you couple that with the tiredness, lack of sleep, hormones and normal, motherly worries that come with motherhood, it’s no surprise that from the period of pregnancy to the few months after delivery, mothers seem to be a bit scatter brained and forgetful.

It’s normal. Yes it’s exasperating but it’s normal and what’s more? You can take steps to cope with it and reduce the effects. Take a look at these helpful tips.

Brain Exercise

You can use this both as a preventive and coping measure. Keep the brain busy reading, doing crossword puzzles, writing or painting if you’re into the arts. Yes, even playing your guitar or learning how to is good brain exercise. These will help your brain resist the effects of mummy brain and help you get your brain back on track quickly.

Physical Exercise

No doubt you have been doing some exercises during pregnancy. Apart from the physical benefits, exercises or any other type of physical exertion like dancing helps keep the blood flowing to the brain carrying much needed oxygen and nutrients. Exercises should be moderate when you’re close to delivery and the few months after birth.

Brain Food

Your diet has a very significant impact on the brain too. Some food and fruits are rich in antioxidants that rid the brain of toxic chemicals and help to keep the brain cells healthy and happy. Your diet should consist of omega-3 fatty acid foods, among other nutrients. You know that about 60 percent of the brain is fat, right? It needs this nutrient in order to reinforce it’s integrity and performance. Examples include nuts (walnuts, peanuts, cashew nuts), berries (straw, blue, blackberries) and fish like salmon.

Keep To-do Lists

I mean, people with very efficient brains do this as a way to get things done efficiently so why not you with your sweet mommy brain? Write daily and weekly lists of what you have to do. You could even include “write tomorrow’s list” on your today’s to-do list. But hey, what if you forget where you kept the list? The next tip should help.

Use Post-It Notes

Write stuff you need to do today and stick them somewhere that’s easy to see like on the fridge or he kitchen door or even your baby. I thought that was funny when a woman said she had to go to that extent so she didn’t forget to do something really important one day. You can use colour codes to help you know what’s urgent and what’s not so urgent but important all the same. You can either use red colour post-its or red ink for urgent stuff for instance.

Alarms & Calendars

This is another efficient way of bypassing the fog and forgetfulness that holds your mind captive. Use the calendar reminders and alarm on your mobile phone to keep up with what you have to do. Set it to go off sometime before the actual time so that you can avoid last-minute rush. You know last-minute rushing could mess up your already befuddled mind.