Memory Lapse? It May Be Pregnancy Brain

摘要：When she was pregnant with her now 1 1/2-year-old son, Bena Blakeslee frantically paced an airport parking lot searching in vain for her Jeep。...

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When she was pregnant with her now 1 1/2-year-old son, Bena Blakeslee frantically paced an airport parking lot searching in vain for her Jeep. Exasperated after an hour of this fruitless endeavor, she broke down in tears and called her husband to tell him that their car had been stolen.

Turns out that Blakeslee, a mother of two in Westchester, N.Y., actually forgot which lot she had parked in. "I also went to the wrong airport twice on the same trip and another time, I was sitting at the wrong gate and completely missed my flight," she tells WebMD.

Sound familiar? It should. Many expectant and/or veteran moms will tell you that they have experienced the kind of embarrassing forgetfulness that Blakeslee describes. It goes by many names -- from pregnancy brain, mommy brain, placenta brain, pregnancy amnesia to the kitschy "momnesia." Pregnancy brain tends to start in pregnancy and continue into the postpartum period.

"The exact prevalence is unknown, but many expectant moms complain of [pregnancy brain] it and seems to gradually subside after the first couple of years after having a baby," says Louann Brizendine, MD, the director of the Women's Mood and Hormone Clinic at the University of California at San Francisco and the author of The Female Brain.

Studies are starting to back up anecdotes like Blakeslees'. One Australian study showed that many pregnant women do experience slight memory loss, which can last up to a year after birth. The study, which appears in the November 2007 issue of the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, showed that pregnant women have greater memory problems when they are doing unfamiliar or demanding tasks.

While pregnancy brain can be frustrating and annoying, the good news is that it's very normal and can often be offset by making lists, using a day planner, and incorporating other tried-and-true memory-boosting strategies into day-to-day life, says Brizendine.

What Is Pregnancy Brain?

In a nutshell, pregnancy brain is "the feeling of walking into a room, going after something, and not remembering what you went for about five to 10 times a day," she says.

"Pregnancy brain is about forgetting where you put your keys or forgetting three of 27 items in the grocery store," adds Donnica Moore, MD, a women's health expert based in Far Hills, N.J.

New-York-city-based author Esther Blum, RD, noticed that her memory was lapsing during pregnancy. "I would call my best friend and we'd have a whole conversation and then I'd call her later on in the day to talk about the same thing," she tells WebMD.

There are many possible -- and plausible -- explanations for pregnancy brain, Brizendine explains.

For starters, "the brain is being marinated in a huge amount of [the pregnancy hormone] oxytocin during pregnancy," says Brizendine. Oxytocin has been shown to have amnesia-like effects during pregnancy.

There may also be an evolutionary aspect to pregnancy brain, Moore says. "It has been postulated that from an evolutionary standpoint this memory impairment may be helpful so that women will forget about other stuff and focus on caring for the child."

Put another way: Having pregnancy (and babyhood) on the brain can result in pregnancy brain. Many pregnant women and new moms spend a lot of time thinking about the changes that having a baby will bring or taking care of their newborn and as a result, their short-term memory may suffer.

Pregnancy brain "should serve as your first tip-off that when you are preparing to have a baby, you need to simplify other areas of your life because life is about to get a lot more complicated," Moore says.

"It can also be an important reminder to take prenatal vitamins as nutritional deficiencies may play a role in pregnancy brain," she says.

Momnesiacs Anonymous

When pregnancy brain continues after childbirth (and it often does), sleep deprivation is clearly a contributing factor. "Women accumulate up to 700 hours of sleep debt in the first year after having a baby, and that causes the brain not to be at its best for things other than caring for the baby," says Brizendine.

Robin, a mother of two in New Rochelle, N.Y., asked that her last name be withheld because she finds her pregnancy brain problems to be embarrassing. "I forget everything now," she says. "I get in the shower and after 10 minutes, I forget if I washed my hair or not and I only shave one leg sometimes. I first noticed it during my second pregnancy and it has gotten worse. It definitely may be related to sleep deprivation and the constant demands of motherhood, but I also fear that it could be early-onset Alzheimer's."

Fear not, says Brizendine. "This type of memory loss or mental slippage is totally normal and not likely to be a sign of anything more serious than sleep deprivation."

Nipping Pregnancy Brain in the Bud

Geeta Sharma, MD, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City, hears about pregnancy brain from patients all the time. "Most patients comment, 'I have to write my questions down or I will forget,' and then mention that they are more forgetful in general," she says.

Writing it down always helpful, she says, whether it's a grocery list or a list of questions to ask your obstetrician.

"Make lists, use a day planner, and keep your sense of humor," adds Moore.

Getting more sleep (while not always easy for new parents) can also help improve short-term memory. "I tell one parent to wear ear plugs at night and sleep wherever they don't hear the baby," says Brizendine. "Most moms need more deep sleep and within a week of getting better sleep, some of this momnesia stuff goes away."

While momnesia is usually not a cause for concern, not all memory lapses are benign, Brizendine says. "If your memory problems are getting in the way of taking safety precautions or if you find yourself doing things like forgetting to put your child in the car seat, worry. Otherwise, it's normal," she says. In general, pregnancy brain is "not something that makes women dangerous."

发布日期：2008-4-22

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