"baby brain"is a totally real phenomenon according to science

A new study has verified something women have suspected for a long time - that pregnancy can really mess with a young mum's cognitive function.
According to a new meta-analysis conducted by researchers at Deakin University, forgetfulness and other cognitive deficiencies during pregnancy are actually measurable - but the impact is likely only noticed by the pregnant woman herself and those closest to her.
Also sometimes called "mumnesia", baby brain often manifests as a sort-of escalation of everyday absentmindedness - more often forgetting where you may have put something, or losing track of what you're doing mid-task.
Women have also reported losing track of conversations, needing to rely more heavily on note-taking to stay organised, difficulties with reading comprehension, and even going so far as to having to delay returning to work.
But attempts to study the phenomenon have yielded inconsistent results, the researchers said, with some studies finding the changes minor . Even a 2007 meta-analysis , now over 10 years old, found that the effect is inconsistent across different areas of memory.
The new meta-analysis of 20 studies updates the body of research regarding the phenomenon by including studies conducted more recently than 2007, as well as examining the cognitive effects on areas other than memory.
The studies analysed included a total of 1,230 women - 709 were pregnant, and the remaining 521 were non-pregnant control groups. They all also included at least one standard objective measure of cognitive function.
Overall, the researchers found, cognitive function was definitely poorer in pregnant women compared to women who weren't pregnant.