Jeanette Hunter · Executive Function Coach
Executive function during pregnancy and postpartum
Pregnancy and the period after giving birth involve some of the most significant hormonal shifts a person can experience, and those shifts have a direct effect on the brain. Memory, focus, organisation, emotional regulation, and the ability to plan and initiate tasks can all be affected, often at exactly the point when life is making the most demands on you.
Coaching cannot change your hormones or take away the demands of pregnancy and new parenthood. What it can do is help you reduce some of the friction, and explore practical strategies for managing when your executive functions are under significant pressure.
This is true for everyone, and it is often particularly pronounced for women who are also neurodivergent, where existing executive function challenges can become significantly more noticeable during these hormonal shifts. If you are going through any of these hormonal changes, this page is for you, whatever your gender. The language here tends to reflect how most people search for this topic, but the experiences described are shared by women, trans men, non-binary people, and others navigating the same hormonal changes.
This might sound familiar if...
You forget things constantly and cannot hold onto information the way you used to, even things that matter to you.
You feel overwhelmed by tasks that would previously have felt completely manageable.
Making decisions, even small ones, feels disproportionately hard.
You cannot seem to get on top of basic organisation no matter how hard you try.
Your emotional responses feel bigger and harder to manage than they did before.
Starting tasks feels almost impossible even when you know they need doing.
You feel like you cannot think clearly, and are not sure whether that is the exhaustion, the hormones, or something else entirely.
You had existing executive function challenges before pregnancy or birth, and they now feel significantly harder to manage.
The two stages
Pregnancy and postpartum are different experiences
While both involve significant hormonal change, the way executive function is affected during pregnancy and in the postpartum period can look quite different.
During pregnancy
Hormonal changes, physical demands, disrupted sleep, and the cognitive load of preparing for a major life change all affect executive function. Many people experience what is commonly called pregnancy brain, a noticeable shift in memory, focus, and mental sharpness.
Postpartum
After birth, oestrogen and progesterone drop sharply. Sleep deprivation compounds hormonal changes significantly. The executive demands of new parenthood, feeding, routines, appointments, and decisions, are enormous, often arriving just as EF capacity is at its lowest.
Note
The postpartum period in particular is rarely discussed in terms of executive function, but it is one of the most EF-demanding periods of adult life. Understanding that is not a comfort in itself, but it can reframe what feels like falling apart as a physiological response to an extraordinary set of demands.
An important note
Postnatal depression, anxiety, and executive function
Postnatal depression and postnatal anxiety are both well-recognised conditions that affect a significant number of people after birth, and both have a direct impact on executive function. The cognitive effects of depression and anxiety, including difficulty concentrating, poor memory, emotional dysregulation, and an inability to initiate tasks, overlap significantly with the hormonal effects described on this page.
Executive function coaching is not a substitute for medical or psychological support, and if you think you may be experiencing postnatal depression or anxiety, speaking to your GP or health visitor is an important first step. That said, coaching can work well alongside other support, and if you are unsure whether it is the right fit for where you are right now, a discovery call is a good place to talk that through.
If you are also neurodivergent
ADHD, autism, and the perinatal period
For people with ADHD or autism, pregnancy and the postpartum period can bring a particularly significant shift in executive function. Oestrogen has a regulatory effect on dopamine, which means hormonal changes can noticeably affect ADHD symptoms that were previously managed, sometimes for the first time.
For autistic people, the unpredictability of pregnancy and early parenthood, combined with the sensory demands and reduced capacity for routine, can make this a particularly challenging period. Many autistic people also find that the postpartum period is when their autism becomes more apparent to them or to others, particularly if the structure and predictability they relied on has been disrupted.
What's going on
Which executive functions are most affected
The executive functions most commonly affected during pregnancy and postpartum include:
What could be different
What coaching can open up
Coaching does not hand you a fixed set of answers. The aim is to help you explore what might work for you, drawing on your own insight and ideas first, with input and strategies from me at relevant points in your coaching journey, and all within a neuroscience-based framework. What that looks like is different for everyone, but common areas people explore include:
Reducing cognitive load
Exploring what helps take the pressure off your memory and reduce how much you need to hold in your head.
Getting the important things done
Finding realistic approaches to initiating and prioritising when capacity is limited.
Understanding what is happening
Reframing the changes you are experiencing as a physiological response rather than a sign that something has gone wrong with you.
Protecting what energy you have
Exploring how to structure your days and reduce friction so that what capacity you have goes to what matters most.
Explore further
You might also find these helpful
A NOTE ON POSSIBILITY - NEUROPLASTICITY
What neuroplasticity means for you
For a long time, it was believed that the brain was largely fixed by adulthood. We now know that Neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to form new connections and adapt, continues throughout life.
It does take longer in adults than in children, and it requires consistent, repeated practice rather than a single step. But, it is possible! The strategies we co-create in coaching aren’t just workarounds (although you may choose to make some environmental adaptions) they’re ways of gradually rewiring how your brain approaches the things that have always felt hard.
Understanding your executive functions is where that process begins.
Curious about what executive function coaching could offer you?
A free discovery call is a good place to start. No commitment, just a conversation about where you are and what might help.
The content on this page draws on established research into hormones, cognition, and the perinatal period. Key sources include:
Henry, J.D. and Rendell, P.G. (2007). A review of the impact of pregnancy on memory function. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 29(8), 793-803.
Pawluski, J.L., Lonstein, J.S. and Fleming, A.S. (2017). The neurobiology of postpartum anxiety and depression. Trends in Neurosciences, 40(2), 106-120.
This page reflects general research findings and is intended for informational purposes. It is not a substitute for medical advice. If you are experiencing significant cognitive or emotional changes during pregnancy or postpartum, speaking to your GP or health visitor is a good first step.
