Chelsea Conaboy

I'll be honest; I could not finish this book. I really wanted to like it. I love scientific nonfiction, and I love reading about parenting, so this book seemed right up my alley. But even though the author claims to write from a place of relying completely on science (specifically neuroscience) instead of conventional thoughts about things like a maternal instinct, this book really came across as capitulating to contemporary cultural ideas. For example, she talked about the new nueral pathways that are created when someone becomes the primary caregiver for an infant. After a period of several months, there is not much discernable difference between the brain of a mother caring for a child she gave birth to, and the brain of a father (adoptive or biological), adoptive mother, or other caregiver assuming that role. While I can see how this information would be encouraging to fathers and adoptive parents, she seems to interpret it primarily as a way of validating non-traditional families. She freqently uses the in-vogue term "birthing parent" (typically applied primarily to people wanting to insist that trans men are, in fact, men, but can still have babies, a very unscientfic position, to my mind) instead of "biological mother" and glosses over the fact that when it comes to neuroplasticity, postpartum hormones do give biological mothers a decided advantage when it comes to being the primary caregiver for their babies. To me, I seemed like this book uses "science" to attempt to diminish the uniqueness and value of motherhood.
Again, I didn't finish it, so perhaps her views were more nuanced and fleshed out later in the book, but I couldn't bring myself to read any more.… (més)

Mommy brain. We’ve all heard of it, joked about it, but is there some truth to explain the fogginess of new mothers? Conaboy examines the current science to learn what actually happens to the brain during pregnancy and childbirth. She states that “scientists can clearly detect and measure changes in the physical structure of new mothers’ brains” and the loss of grey matter volume certainly points to becoming a different person. Hormonal shifts, changes in attention and empathy are noted not just in mothers but in fathers and other caregivers. It’s actually a matter of parental brain, not just female brains.

Conaby includes personal anecdotes in addition to the scientific studies which have some vocabulary and acronyms that may be unfamiliar to the average reader. Medial preoptic area (MPOA), nucleus accumbens and the like can be intimidating if you’ve never come across them before. Some of the studies are quite small so we can’t really extrapolate the findings to populations in general. Conaby also observes that many studies are done by male scientists or exclude women altogether so there is a great deal we still have to learn. One of the most interesting findings is microchimerism which occurs when fetal cells cross into the mother's bloodstream and take up residence in various locations in her body. These foreign cells are detectable years, even decades, later. This might be related to immunological disorders, thyroid disorders and lupus which often affect women more than men. The causes of post-partum depression (which may be more common than previously thought) are also explored.

Several times Conaby speaks in favor of better medical care and childcare in the United States which lags behind other developed countries. Citations are not indicated by superscript numbers but are listed by page number in the Notes. The finished book is indexed but the inclusion of a glossary or brain map would have been welcome additions.

… (més)