Thoughts from a Lactation Consultant abroad – Why foggy brain is a good thing.

During the summer I left the sunny shores of Northern Ireland to spend six and a half weeks in the Canadian Arctic. I had an amazing time and met lots of wonderful people. One experience in particular made me reflect on how we view the importance of relationships and hence the connection of relationship thinking and breastfeeding.

One Sunday I had the privilege of attending an Inuit church picnic. The sun was shining, the smoky tea tasted delicious and the world felt wonderful. At the end of the picnic I had a positive but intense chat to my friend about her work in crime prevention. My husband and I then drove home immediately after the chat and I realised my mood had lowered considerably, despite having such a fabulous time at the picnic and getting on well with my friend. Rightly or wrongly I concluded that at the picnic I was using my right brain and relational thinking which changed to left brain and logical thinking during the conversation with my friend.

So why am I telling you this? As mothers and women we so often talk ourselves down when we talk about the ‘foggy brain’ or worse the ‘cow brain’ of pregnancy or post birth. In reality this is our body’s way of helping us emerge into motherhood. Apparently the blood flow to the right side of a woman’s brain is increased during pregnancy and post birth. Right brained thinking can occur at any stage of our lives. Right-brained thinking is vital to our health as human beings as we need healthy relationships to thrive and survive. We tend to put a high value on logical, left-brained thinking in our culture as paid work keeps us fed and housed. However it is the quality of our relationships that determines the quality of our lives. So a mother’s foggy brain is actually vital to her family’s health and well-being. How can a mother enhance the effect of this increased emphasis by her body on her right brain? Spend time with your baby, hold your baby lots, don’t feel pressured to ‘put your baby down’. Holding your baby is good for your baby too. Look into your baby’s eyes and talk to them. Stroke your baby’s skin and respond to your baby’s cues for comfort. Enjoy the fog of pregnancy and post birth. This fog will eventually clear, but the bonding and attachment to our baby will last for the rest of our lives.