Scientific Reports (Jun 2021)

The effect of pregnancy on maternal cognition

  • Giulia Barda,
  • Yossi Mizrachi,
  • Irina Borokchovich,
  • Lampl Yair,
  • Diana Paleacu Kertesz,
  • Ron Dabby

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-91504-9
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 6

Abstract

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Abstract To determine whether there are differences in measures of cognitive function between second and third trimester pregnant women compared to non-pregnant controls. This prospective study comprised 40 pregnant and 40 non-pregnant women, 20–40 years old, native-Hebrew speakers who were recruited from the outpatient clinics during a period of nearly 2 years. The patients underwent cognitive and affective evaluation. The performance on the three following tests: difficult and total items of Verbal Paired Associates, the Digit Span—forward and the Naming Objects and Fingers test scores were significantly better among non- pregnant women. All the other test results were similar between the two groups, including the depression scores. On multivariate linear regression analysis, after adjusting for age and years of education , Verbal Paired Associates total score (p = 0.04), and Naming Objects and Fingers (p = 0.01) remained significantly associated with pregnancy, but not Digit Span (p = 0.09). Our study demonstrates an impairment in memory among pregnant women. Furthermore language skills, particularly naming, were also impaired, a finding which has not been previously described.