Memory loss after childbirth is one thing that most women experience. Sadly, most of them do not know the reason behind it.
This memory loss sometimes poses strong insecurity, loss of vital information and valued possessions.
Sofia had placed the remaining pot of soup for her family’s lunch on fire and settled down in the sitting-room.
It was when the soup started burning that she remembered she had placed it on the fire. Her stress level rises, as she needs to make a fresh soup for their meal.
Painful as that may be, it is not the first time it is happening. The rate at which it repeats makes her sad, yet there is a reason it is happening. She is a nursing mother.
Some women forget meeting time, forget to turn on the gas after placing a kettle on the gars burner and even passwords.
Unfortunately, this condition continues over time and becomes disturbing for many. It can last for two years or more after childbirth
Interestingly, researchers have looked into why women have memory loss after childbirth and have identified why it happens.
According to a study, having children can permanently affect the brain of women.
Cause Of Memory Loss After Childbirth
The study focused on prospective memory decline in pregnant and postpartum women (1).
Prospective memory (PM) refers to the ability to remember to execute an intended action in the future.
The research assessed several postpartum women and and discovered decreased PM performance.
Another thing found was lower estradiol level and all of them are signs of decreased functional connectivity (FC).
According to the report, disrupted sleep rhythms and decreased estradiol level may contribute to poor PM performance in postpartum women.
Estradiol is an estrogen steroid hormone and the major female sex hormone.
It is involved in the regulation of the estrous and menstrual female reproductive cycles.
Women who just gave birth slip into this condition as a result of their engagements.
They are dealing with additional demanding ongoing tasks – feeding their baby or changing their baby’s diaper every couple of hours without sleep.
Unfortunately, this begins with sleepless nights that follow childbirth which most women experience.
The baby stays awake at night, forcing the woman to lose tangible amount of sleep that would have cleaned the brain.
Also, women who gave birth have decreased serum levels of estrogen and this reduces the capacity of the memory.
What Do I Do?
Interestingly, God has given us everything we need to be able to go through this childbearing stage of life.
“I was once there,” our health coach said. “But I made a few adjustments that helped.”
Catch Some Sleep
Sleep has been identified as a major way of cleaning our brain. Getting sleep as much as you can, daily, will help your memory a great deal.
One thing that can help is to sleep each time you put your child to sleep. Do your work when the child is also awake.
Get some sleep on your way to work and back.
Read Our Article On Get Better Sleep With 4 Easy Techniques
Write Down Activities As Reminders
We are not a people given to jotting things down, but after childbirth, adjusting this habit is necessary.
Get a diary or daily planner. You can send a direct message to Fabmumng requesting for a daily planner.
Diet Helps Improve Memory
Basically, God has given us foods that directly impact the brain and only such foods can improve your memory.
Foods like red rice, dark and leafy greens, avocado, blueberries and others are foods that you can add to your diet.
In the cause of carrying a baby, a woman loses so much from her body make up. Adding these foods to your diet after childbirth would help restore most of these lost nutrients.
Also Read: 8 Ways You Can Improve Your Memory
Exercise
One of the very things women fail to do after childbirth is exercise. Sadly, this is one of the reasons they add excess weight.
Engaging in some form of physical activity, improves blood flow and memory.
Exercise helps stimulate chemical changes in the brain that enhance learning, mood and thinking.
Also, it changes the brain in ways that protect memory and thinking skills.
Simply talking a walk in your street or within your sitting room for some minutes could be of help.
Kindly share this article with your friends and loved ones to help them know what to do to improve memory after childbirth.