Your Brain Literally Rewires Itself With Each Pregnancy, and the Second Time Is Different From the First

The effects of a second pregnancy on women’s brain structure and function

Nature Communications. 2026. Straathof M et al.

Researchers in Amsterdam followed 110 women and scanned their brains before pregnancy and after delivery using advanced MRI. Thirty women were pregnant with their second child, 40 with their first, and 40 were not pregnant. Both first and second pregnancies caused widespread reductions in brain gray matter …