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It鈥檚 official, 鈥榖aby brain鈥� 鈥� forgetfulness and other cognitive deficiencies during pregnancy 鈥� exists.

Researchers have confirmed that it is聽a measurable聽and significant phenomenon, but caution聽that it requires more research to determine its impact on the day-to-day聽lives of expectant mothers.

Published in the , researchers PhD candidate Sasha Davies and colleagues at , undertook a meta-analysis 聽of 20聽studies that included a total of 709 pregnant and 521 non-pregnant women. They found that the聽evidence provided by these studies indicated that 鈥渙verall cognitive functioning was poorer in聽pregnant women than in non-pregnant women鈥�.

鈥淕eneral cognitive functioning, memory, and executive functioning were significantly reduced during聽the third trimester of pregnancy (compared with control women), but not during the first two trimesters,鈥� the authors wrote.

鈥淟ongitudinal studies found declines between the first and second trimesters in general cognitive聽functioning and memory, but not between the second and third trimesters.

鈥淭he differences primarily develop during the first trimester, and are consistent with recent findings聽of long term reductions in brain grey matter volume during pregnancy. The impact of these effects聽on the quality of life and everyday functioning of pregnant women requires further investigation,鈥澛燞ayden and her co-authors concluded.

A/Prof聽Linda Byrne noted: 鈥淭hese findings need to be interpreted with caution, particularly聽as the declines were statistically significant, but performance remained within the normal ranges of聽general cognitive functioning and memory.鈥�

Dr Melissa Hayden explained: 鈥淭hese small reductions in performance across their pregnancy will聽be noticeable to the pregnant women themselves and perhaps by those close to them, manifesting聽mainly as minor memory lapses (eg, forgetting or failing to book medical appointments), but more聽significant consequences (eg, reduced job performance or impaired ability to navigate complex聽tasks) are less likely.鈥�

Image credit: 漏Monika Olszewska/Dollar Photo Club