Logout You'd hardly expect your brain to remain unaffected by the upheaval the rest of your body has gone through, and sure enough, childbirth can produce striking mental changes. Sheer exhaustion and understandable preoccupation aren't the only explanations.
Doctors think profound childbirth-induced hormone changes also affect the brain.
The brain-hormone connection also plays a role in this form of minor clinical depression, which afflicts about 20 percent of new mothers. But it's not the only element. The quality of the woman's marriage is perhaps what's most important, though. In most cases, he says, women's minds and spirits begin to bounce back ten days after delivery. Those who feel depressed longer than this, or who continue to be so forgetful they have trouble functioning, should get help from their doctors.