'Baby brain' dismissed as a myth

Experts have said the so-called ‘baby brain’ does not exist.

The Australian researchers have said the concept is a ‘fallacy’ and women need to stop attributing common memory lapses to having a baby.

Dr Christensen and team from The Australian National University studied 1,241 women both before and after having babies.

The women completed various memory tests and the results showed there was no difference before and after their pregnancy. In addition, there was no great difference in memory scores between the women who became others and those who did not.

Dr Christensen said the study challenges the notion that mothers are not intellectually equal to their childless contemporaries. She suggested women can help turn this around too by not fuelling the baby brain idea.

She said: "Women and their partners need to be less automatic in their willingness to attribute common memory lapses to a growing or new baby. And obstetricians, family doctors and midwives may need to use the findings from this study to promote the fact that 'placenta brain' is not inevitable."

The British Journal of Psychiatry says any absentmindedness could be down to a mother shifting her attention to the baby.

Dr Christensen agrees. She said: "Pregnant women may shift their focus away from work issues to help them prepare for the birth of their new baby, while new mothers selectively attend to their baby." She said part of the problem is pregnancy advice books that tell women they are likely to experience memory and concentration problems, so they and their partners are therefore “primed to attribute any memory lapse to the 'hard to miss' physical sign of pregnancy.”

Cathy Warwick of the Royal College of Midwives said it is ‘about time’ research lays to rest the ‘baby brain myth’. She said: “The physical and emotional stresses on a woman's body from pregnancy can make women feel more tired than usual. As we all know tiredness - for men as well as women - can make us lose concentration and cause us to function less effectively. This is why midwives encourage pregnant women to take appropriate rest breaks, at home and at work. Many pregnant women will need this rest, and all of them deserve it."