Beyond 'Baby Brain': Memory and Sleep Health During Pregnancy-A Biopsychosocial Perspective

Across the course of pregnancy, women undergo profound biological, psychological, and social changes, often accompanied by subjective memory complaints. However, evidence for objective memory problems remains inconsistent, revealing a gap between subjective and objective impairment. This narrative review aimed to (a) provide an overview of memory difficulties during pregnancy, with particular attention to the potential biological and psychosocial mechanisms underlying them, and (b) examine sleep health as a specific and potentially modifiable factor within this framework, adopting a multidimensional perspective. Findings indicate that pregnant women frequently report subjective memory difficulties, whereas objective impairment is generally subtle, domain-specific, and remains within normative ranges. Biological evidence suggests substantial hormonal fluctuations and dynamic brain reorganisation during pregnancy; however, consistent associations with memory decline have not been established, and some studies point to adaptive neuroplastic processes. At the same time, societal expectations and environmental factors may influence subjective memory functioning, contributing to the discrepancy between subjective and objective findings. Sleep is consistently compromised during pregnancy and plays a key role in memory processes. However, evidence linking sleep and memory during pregnancy is limited and heterogeneous, with predominantly correlational findings across different dimensions of sleep health. These results support the need for a biopsychosocial framework that incorporates a multidimensional conceptualisation of sleep and for overcoming simplified views of pregnancy psychophysiological processes. Future research should adopt longitudinal and multimodal approaches to clarify the role of sleep health and its interaction with biological and psychosocial factors, ultimately informing preventive strategies and more comprehensive models of maternal memory functioning.