How Giving Birth Changes Your Brain
A woman’s uterus grows to over 500 times its normal size during pregnancy. But not all changes are visible. In fact, some of the biggest
changes happen in her brain. When a mother sees her
newborn for the first time, it’s love at first sight, literally. That’s because once she gives birth, core regions of her brain’s
reward network kick in. They signal the release
of feel-good hormones like dopamine and oxytocin into her blood, which immediately triggers
a strong connection of love and devotion to her newborn. In fact, studies show that recent mothers have similar levels of
oxytocin as romantic couples who are newly in love. And human moms aren’t alone here. Scientists discovered that rodents got a bigger kick of dopamine
from feeding their pups than from receiving injections of cocaine. What’s more, brain scans
reveal that a human mom has a similar experience when
she sees her infant smiling. But it’s a different story
when her baby is crying. Those cries activate a
network in the mom’s brain known as the emotion regulation network. It includes the prefrontal
and cingulate control systems, which help control her emotions. And that’s important since
it can be easy to lose your temper when you’re
running on very little sleep and are distressed by the baby’s cries. And while motherhood can be exhausting, new moms are actually
more alert than normal thanks to their brain’s salience network. Scientists think giving birth
activates this network to help a mother detect threats and
protect her infant from harm, especially in dangerous situations when that network can
help ramp up adrenaline. But on a daily basis, Mom needs to understand
her newborn’s needs. To accomplish that, she uses empathy, which comes from her
brain’s social network. It involves the insular and amygdala, which researchers found became more active when moms looked at photos of their babies in distress compared to neutral photos. But it’s not just the
mom’s brain that changes. Research shows that a dad’s
brain releases oxytocin when he interacts with his baby too. This is often accompanied by a surge of another hormone: prolactin. It’s often called the milk
hormone because it triggers the production of breast milk, but men can produce it too, and researchers have found that dads who frequently played with their babies had higher prolactin levels in their blood than fathers who didn’t. They were also more responsive
to their baby’s cries. So in the end, having a
child is a big change. Not just for your lifestyle,
for your brain too.
Bye bye husband.
dad come back
What about depression while being pregnant many people don't talk about that
How do you explain depression after giving birth then? ๐ค Which some mother experienced after feeling traumatized by labour.
Yo where did that wrecking ball come from.I died ๐๐๐
What is wrong with mothers with no emotional connection or lacks the protective side
Had my first baby and my skin is to die for I mean to DIE for ๐
What happens to a mothers brain when getting a abortion? I'm not try to be a jerk. Just from a mental standpoint, I don't really think anyone's going to look into that.
So basically you're on drugs the whole time
Your brain is drugging you
Taking care of a child and working literally makes women crazy AF…
wow 666k views. the devil must be interested in child birth
So it doesn't change your brain, it just triggers structures that are already there. Clickbait bullshit again.
Thats cool, but wtf happens to us while were pregnant?? I swear ive lost 100 IQ points
It changes their body as well . They usually get all fat and ugly.
Ick
Oh really , 1.5 billion abortions in the last 50 years. Make the women who get late term abortions put the baby in the medical waste buckets ! ๐
U get PTSD from the painful contractions
If itโs love at first sight, those women who leave their newborns in trash cans must not ever be able to have a normal relationship with anyone. ๐
How it looked when I had YouTube and I Baby ๐ผ…๐๐-Child Poet
absolutely hate the animation, what kind of idiot did that?
The thumbnail looks like she punching her stomach
Babies are a drug ๐๐
And exactly like drugs, they kill you slowly but surely, draining you from your own regular emotions ๐๐
God is amazing
The hormone factors does not apply when youโve used drugs like the epidural for pain relief, look it up.
Yeah but what it does to your body.. ๐ฐ๐คฎ
I learned all this in midwifery school, i kinda wish this was standard education about the female body and being a parent. Maybe then society would realize woman arent weak were empathetic and nurturers.
My son is 7 months and I have only experienced all of that since 2 months ago.. it's not the same for woman with preexisting mental illnesses
After having baby, your vagina loose and your husband will find a new fit hole. That's what they always does. You can't have both fit vagina and a baby. Unless the baby does not come from your wife.
These animations are terrible
Great thumbnail! ๐๐
Nah. Keep it .
No thank you!
It's not just the mother that changes. I've never had children of my own, but I was in the delivery room when my neice was born, I stayed with my sister and her new baby for 6 months to help out. Thinking back I found myself being very protective of both my sister and her new baby and the slightest noise alarted me. Which I was never like that when my other sisters kids were born. Then again I wasn't around them a lot while they were pregnant with them nor with them at those births.
My mom: oh I had a baby girl
My dad: let's make her study oncology
My mom: PERFECTร!
Baby's s when grow up don't remember mom' s pain
Cute
Stupid clickbait video
Saw my baby on a 4d scan and now she is all i think about. I cant believe how much i love her and want to protect her already. She hijacked my brain.
My dog's attitude changed after she had her first birth with the puppies
So what about those that feel absolutely no emotional or physical connection immediately after birth? Is there something wrong with them? I'm referring to those that give up their babies for adoption or i suppose even unplanned or even unknown pregnancy.
โค
I can't remember squat !
All this science of primitive mom-child relationship.. I've been searching for long for science to explain why did my mom always beat me and once almost kill me..
This is why i kept telling my husband to use condom
What they didn't say is that father's testosterone levels decrease during pregnancy. Men who do not have children have higher levels of testosterone.
I'm bored asf that im watching video about pregnancy and THANK GOD I AM A MALE O_O
So we just gone skip the question of why they gave the rats cocaine …ookay
So mother get high
Yay more content for my baby fever! ๐๐
Well that explains why my mom has superpowers!! LOL XD
When Donald Trump was born his mom shit during the delivery, when she saw the two she thought she had twins
Male can produce milk.. ?
What has happened and why did i live.
What if this was rape baby or unwated child?
Also, you say "science shows" without providing the source. I can say "science shows bees on cocaine give more honey" but it won't make it so, just because I said "science shows".
it will make the mother say ''Don't use Technologys''
Do what gaming does to your brain
So if my mom never gave birth i would have been smart.
Thanks alot mom.
Motherhoods are stupid
80% about the thumbnail
19% Video
1% percentage which is me
Donkeys say that happens in accedent .
Doesnt make any sense what you said concerning the brain changes
Nah f*ck off, I would never give birth
These are the natural instincts that science and education want us to negate. The only reason we exist is to make new life, itโs not work or career or money.
BIG BRAINNNN
Can you explain the mommies brain please
im gonna save my child from a wrecking ball too
Wwhy does the mom look pretty
Ninja mom jumping after giving birth.
1:51 Theme Song Super Mom
0:17 When our poop won't come out be like:
Wow
โค๏ธ my Daughter so much!
Really not an excuse for some people that why there was a freaking loaded gun in our God damn toy box as kids
Iโve never personally given birth cos Iโm 14 lol but whenever I hear a baby or a young child crying I want cheer them up I guess I just have material instincts lol even tho i have no children
1:43 lol thatโs just me when I see a toddler who could be in danger or a dog near the toad lol it called angsiety
Unless your a baby thanos, then your mom would change, only in a more mad
and some moms throw their babies in the toilet… ;-;
dad: time to breastfeed
Interesting! Still ain't having a kid though. I am an Asexual and I just want a man, a doggo, two goldfish, and a nice house! No kids! My nieces and Nephews are enough for me!
Nobody :
Me : :0
So um the guy in the video looks like Steve from minecraft but with pink hair and I can't get over it ๐
That's why I have no. Brain cells.Nevermind lol
Thatโs a fact Iโm way more alert after becoming a mother
Funny to think that I was once INSIDE my mom. Just think on that for awhile.
Am I the only one who doesnโt understand any of these stuff
Karenโs :
Cocaine ruins your brain please donโt do cocaine. Have babies instead
Pregnant women are literally superheroes
No. It was shock and depression.
The thumbnail is literally me when I try to shit but constipated
That's a cursed thumbnail
hmm yes, give birth so she can make the man pay for child support
My virtual villagers when I picked them up: 2:40
Iโve never had a baby or given birth to one but I always think it would hurt like taking a really painful shit
Women have a stronger spiritual bond with their babies than men do. It's not sexist, it's a fact.
reason why it change ur brain because your brain will be shared with the baby
I will never impregnate a woman.
I will never impregnate a woman.
I will never impregnate a woman.
I will never impregnate a woman.
I will never impregnate a woman.
I will never impregnate a woman.
I will never impregnate a woman.
I will never impregnate a woman.
I will never impregnate a woman.
Just imagine how fucked up football would be if they used live babyโs like seeing Patrick Mahomes chuck a baby downfield
I never knew birth made a mother have sweet ninja moves in order to protect their infant lol
Does this also happen to a family of 5 guys whose brother has 2 baby girls? I love my nieces and babysit them pretty often, there's just something about the whole thing. I feel like a parent, it's frustrating at times but I just can't say no to them. I'm definitely training to be a dad, but I just don't think it's going to happen anytime soon. Too much work lol.
I don't like this, because it doesn't say any of the other changes in the brain that occur, focusing on a change that actually doesn't happen in most mothers, that "immediate connection, love at first sight" thing. They should have addressed the other side, where a whole lot of mothers experience THE EXACT OPPOSITE and the normalcy of that as well. PPD