Pregnancy is a confusing time for our bodies and brains. There’s forgetfulness, morning sickness, and a bunch of other factors at play, and they all serve to make a pretty confusing experience.
So what can you expect? Jordan Gaines Lewis, a Neuroscience Doctoral Candidate at the Penn State College of Medicine, broke down exactly what’s going in in the pregnant brain.
The biggest, quickest change is morning sickness. More than half of pregnant women go through nausea and vomiting during their pregnancy. But did you know that there’s an extreme version? It’s been in the news lately, but it’s called hyperemesis gravidarum, which causes dehydration and weight loss, and requires hospitalization. Luckily, only 1% of pregnant women experience this.
There’s no clear cause for morning sickness, but the most common theory has something to do with the body’s reaction to the increase in a pregnancy hormone called “human chorionic gonadotropic” (hCG). However, though the peak in this hormone and morning sickness appear at the same time, it doesn’t shed much light on why morning sickness occurs.
A more likely possibility is that your brain is detecting toxins in your body that may be dangerous for your baby, and is getting rid of them for you. So morning sickness, while annoying, is probably beneficial.
The second thing you may notice is a heightened sense of smell. It’s one of the earliest signs of pregnancy, but it’s hard to know why. Some studies relate the hCG levels to sense of smell, meaning that these hormonal changes may be making our brain prioritize smell.
As far as forgetfulness goes, there isn’t much research to back this. Several studies have found connections between pregnancy and lower memory function, but it’s hard to come up with a conclusive reason why. Sleep deprivation and stress are two likely reasons for this.
But no matter what, your body is going through an enormous amount of stress during pregnancy. That's a more likely reason for all of these than anything else, says Lewis.
