Are you embarking on your first pregnancy and feeling a little less than sure of the journey ahead? I recently sat at a park and observed many new moms, all enjoying an afternoon with their little ones. I couldn’t help but think that these young moms are completely different people than they were just a few short years ago.

I imagined that they were once young adults, concerned with their social calendar, trendy fashions, and catching the eye of the cute boy across the mall. Now, they are wiping runny noses, changing diapers and navigating the world of toddler meltdowns. What happened?!

Pregnancy is what happened. It’s a little known fact that during pregnancy, the brain is rewired. The Francis Crick Institute releases a study last year that stated that through research studies, it was found that the pregnancy hormones actually change the brain of a pregnant woman. Estrogen and Progesterone act on a small group of neurons in the brain that switches on an adaptation to protecting offspring, even before the child is born. Another brain change we see, is the formation of brain circuits in the area of bonding and empathy.

You may have also heard that a mother’s sense of smell seems to be exaggerated during pregnancy. Is this fact or fiction? It is factual. The olfactory system begins to produce new neurons. Again, this is for the purpose of mother-child bonding.

Another interesting fact is that the grey matter in a woman’s brain actually shrinks during pregnancy and post partum. Now, at first, one may assume this is a bad deal, but, it is good news! This pruning of the brain means that there is a process of fine tuning happening. The brain becomes more sensitive to social cues that ability to better understand what someone is thinking and feeling. These are the exact things a new mom needs.

So, if you find yourself in a position where you have ‘mom’ brain, try to think of this as a good thing. Your brain intuitively weeds out all the unnecessary things, for the more important skills you will need as a first time mom and beyond. It really is quite a fascinating process in more ways than one! Think of all the things your body is automatically taking care of to prepare for this new life and new responsibility! How amazing!