Pregnant Women Really Are Forgetful

Women in all stages of pregnancy stereotypically are often referred to as being a bit forgetful and it is usually deemed as being part of the process of having a baby.

However, research carried out in New Zealand would suggest that scientifically this is quite true in certain cases.

While undertaking a variety of neuropsychological tests it was found that women in their final trimester of pregnancy had a significant decrease in their ability to remember what they had heard.

The study involved ninety females equally split between non pregnant subjects, and those in their first and third stage of gestation.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists presented their study at a recent scientific meeting.

Their spokesperson Lenore Ellett suggests that it might be helpful to know because pregnant women can be bombarded with important information.

Perhaps in future doctors and midwives might consider making sure all advice is written down.

An average score was calculated from the various tests and in regard to the data found on examining memory, a pregnant woman in the latter stages of her condition are ten points lower than those in other groups. Interestingly the visuospatial memory remained unaffected so only auditory recall suffers.

Thankfully, by the time an expectant mother has reached her final phase, she pretty much knows what is likely to happen during child birth or delivery.

For first times, in particular, every book would have been read long before but it is interesting to note the strong effect that hormones seem to have on every part of having a baby.