Pregnancy is often called a time of transformation, but while we focus on the physical changes, there’s a fascinating shift happening behind the scenes—in the brain. New research reveals that pregnancy rewires the brain in remarkable ways, enhancing your ability to bond, nurture, and respond to your baby. Here’s what science has to say about “baby brain”—and why it’s not what you think

But the truth behind this phenomenon is more inspiring than inconvenient. As pregnancy hormones like estrogen and progesterone flood your body, they reshape key areas of the brain, especially those involved in empathy and emotional processing.

According to Dr. Emily Jacobs, a neuroscientist from the University of California, Santa Barbara, these changes are all about making the brain more specialized for motherhood. Pregnancy brain shrinkage is not a bad thing, she explains. Think of it as a sculptor carefully chiseling marble to reveal something extraordinary. “You can see the sculpting of the brain unfold week by week,” she adds.