What's "Mumnesia" And Can It Be Prevented?

Standing in the kitchen but have no idea why you went in there? Searching high and low for your mobile phone only to find it in your left hand five minutes later? A playful term coined to describe the forgetfulness and mental fog experienced by new mothers during and after pregnancy is "mumnesia" or "mum brain".

But is it a real condition? While it's not officially a clinical diagnosis, many women report common cognitive changes during this transformative phase of their lives. In this article, we’ll explore the causes of "mumnesia" or "mum brain", discuss possible strategies for combating it, and recommend activities and supplements which can help strengthen your memory if you find yourself struggling with this frustrating phenomenon.

The science: shrinking grey matter

Imaging studies have observed and concluded that a woman’s brain size steadily decreases during pregnancy to become its smallest at the point of birth, before gradually reversing its course and increasing back in size again after delivery.

Neuroscientists have also noted that these neural changes can persist for up to six years after birth, and cannot rule out the possibility that some brain changes are permanent. It’s not all bad news though. Psychologists believe that this reduction of grey matter is related to “synaptic pruning”, which trims away unnecessary neural connections to improve brain efficiency and help mothers better focus on certain maternal processes — that in turn help you develop stronger bonds with your baby.

What causes “mumnesia”?

• Hormonal Changes: If we had to point fingers, “hormones” would probably be named the biggest culprit. Pregnancy and childbirth bring significant hormonal fluctuations, including raised levels of estrogen and progesterone. These hormonal shifts don’t just affect mood, sleep and appetite, but also affect memory and cognitive function.

• Sleep Deprivation: Just as hormones can disrupt a pregnant mummy’s sleep and wake cycles, so do feelings of nausea, vomiting and the infamous heightened urge to visit the bathroom. After delivery, it’s a mere understatement to say that newborns will disrupt your sleep patterns. All combined, such prolonged sleep disturbances often lead to chronic sleep deprivation for mothers, which is a well-known contributor to memory lapses and reduced brain function.

• Stress and Anxiety: Chronic stress is another widely-accepted associate of memory impairment. The unrelenting and challenging demands of motherhood, coupled with the pressures of caring for a newborn, can lead to elevated stress levels and anxiety in many mummies. It is hard to focus when feeling stressed out, and memory lapses become common.

• Multitasking Overload: This is a big, and necessary, part of the job—mothers frequently have to juggle multiple tasks, from feeding and changing diapers to managing household chores and regular work commitments. While it’s a great skill to have, constant multitasking can overload the brain, making it harder to concentrate and remember everything.

How can we mitigate “mumnesia”?

While a certain degree of forgetfulness and mental fog may be inevitable, here are some strategies that you could employ to alleviate the effects of "mumnesia."

1. Prioritise Sleep: As challenging as it may be, getting quality sleep is essential. Share night-time parenting duties with your partner or enlist the help of a trusted friend or relative to take some daytime shifts so you can have some uninterrupted rest. The sage advice to “nap when baby naps” is also worth repeating for good reason — because it works! Put off the urge to catch up on chores when baby falls asleep, and catch some Z’s instead.

1. Self-Care: Make self-care another priority, no matter how busy you are and how much everyone seems to need you. Try relaxation techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, or yoga to manage your stress and anxiety levels. Practising mindfulness exercises can also help reduce distractions and improve focus — it only takes a few minutes each day!

1. Get Organized: Using tools like calendars, planners, or smartphone apps to keep track of appointments, baby's feeding schedule, and other daily or important tasks will help. On top of reducing mental clutter, it can give you greater peace of mind that you won’t forget anything important.

1. Delegate Tasks: Don't hesitate to ask for help wherever possible. Outsourcing to professionals, or delegating responsibilities and tasks to your partner, family members or friends will help to reduce the stress and mental burden of feeling like you have to do everything. You will feel more like “yourself” when you are able to get some rest and downtime. 

1. Hydrate and Eat Well: Proper nutrition and hydration are crucial for brain health. Seemingly ‘simple things’ like consuming a balanced, nutrient-rich diet and drinking plenty of water can work wonders for your physical, emotional and mental health. This holds particularly true if you’re breastfeeding — you will need up to 500 calories more than the amount you were consuming daily before pregnancy, and an additional one litre of water a day (making a total of 2.5 to 3 litres). 

1. Get Some Exercise: Regular physical activity improves blood flow to the brain and can enhance cognitive function. Try to incorporate as much physical activity into your daily routine as you can, even if it only involves light exercise like stretching for ten minutes in the morning or taking a leisurely stroll after dinner.

1. Stay Mentally Agile: You can do this by engaging in activities that stimulate the brain, such as reading, doing puzzles, or playing memory-boosting games. The following apps can help strengthen memory and cognitive function with consistent use.

Apps for brain training

• Lumosity: Lumosity offers a variety of brain-training mini games designed to improve your memory, attention span, brain agility, cognitive processing speed and problem-solving skills. These interactive games are pretty fun too. Download on Android or download on iPhone.

• Elevate: Elevate is angled more toward enhancing your reading, writing, and math skills through personalized brain workouts. The quiz-style games here are designed to improve your focus, memory, math, speaking, comprehensive ability and more. Download on Android or download on iPhone.

• Peak: Another great brain training tool with exciting games, Peak offers over 45 brain training games personalised for your profile—though you can only access two a day on the free app version. These challenges require good math and language skills, can stimulate creativity and even help you develop greater control over your emotions. Download on Android or download on iPhone.

• CogniFit: The CogniFit Brain Training app provides cognitive assessments and targeted training programs to train specific memory and cognitive areas. It is designed to help boost short-term memory as well as other abilities including focus, concentration, coordination, perception, processing speed, reaction time and more. Download on Android or download on iPhone. 

Supplements for memory enhancement

While there are many more supplements out there touted to benefit brain health and memory, not all of them are safe to take during pregnancy or while you’re breastfeeding. These ones are, but please check with your doctor regarding dosages suitable for your specific prenatal or postnatal stage.

• Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Omega-3s, found in fish oil supplements, tops the list for brain food—both for you and your baby. Omega-3 fatty acids, particularly the long-chain fatty acids DHA and EPA present in fatty fish, are well known for supporting brain health and cognitive function. Taking this while pregnant is great for foetal brain and eye development too. 

• Folic Acid: Folic acid helps form the neural tube early in pregnancy, helping to prevent major brain and spine defects in baby. However, studies have also found that low folate blood concentrations are linked to poor cognitive performance even in adults, and that folic acid supplements appear to improve memory and cognitive function, being effective in treating Alzheimer’s disease.

• Vitamin D: Vitamin D is an important calcium-regulating hormone that can help alleviate brain fog, not just in new mums but in older adults. More recent research has found that people with higher concentrations of vitamin D in their brains also reported better cognitive function. Natural food sources include fatty fish, fish liver oil, egg yolk and cheese, but you may wish to consider a supplement especially if you’re not getting enough sunlight. 

• Choline: While pregnant, Choline helps your baby grow and develop, possibly protecting against certain birth defects and increasing memory test scores in children. In adults, Choline regulates memory, mood, muscle control and other functions. You can find it in eggs, beef, chicken, fish, legumes, nuts and cruciferous vegetables, but we generally don’t get enough of it from food alone.