Memory and mood changes in pregnancy: a qualitative content analysis of women’s first-hand accounts

Figures & data

Table 1. Examples of deductive codes applied to the data from existing framework of the literature which investigates mood and memory changes in pregnancy. These deductive codes guided the first stage of QCA and derived from a brief narrative literature review of the evidence. The brief review was achieved using forward and backward citation searches of relevant papers identified via search engines (e.g. Web of Science and Google Scholar).

Focus of the study	Self-report study	Methodology	Relevant deductive codes
Memory changes in pregnancy	Parsons and Redman (1991)	Semi-structured questionnaire	Difficulty in concentration Absentmindedness Short-term memory
	Crawley (2002)	Open-ended questionnaire	Memory impairments Concentration deficits Lower clarity of thought Poorer attention
	Sharp et al. (1993)	Questionnaire with free text box	Difficulty following conversations Forgetting daily tasks Absentmindedness
	Orchard et al. (2021)	Self-report subjective memory measure	Memory errors Self-cued memory Environment-cued memory
Mood changes in pregnancy	Ross et al. (2004)	Self-report survey	Anxiety Depression Psychosocial stress
	Li et al. (2020)	Systematic review	Mood instability Depression Mood lability
	Clark et al. (2009)	Semi-structured interviews	Mood lability Body dissatisfaction
	Staneva et al. (2015)	Meta-synthesis of qualitative studies	Psychological distress Anxiety, depression Pregnancy-related stress

Table 2. Example codes, sub-typologies, and final typologies of memory responses.

Example codes	Sub-typologies	Final typologies
Lapses in memory	Sudden memory slips	Short-term memory lapses
Forgetting names
Task-specific memory loss	Disorientation in everyday life
Language-related memory loss
Short-term memory loss
(Dis)organisation of memory	Chronic memory impairment	Chronic memory fog
Feeling scatty
Tiredness and confusion	Memory fatigue
Absent mindedness
Difficulty in concentration

Table 3. Example codes, sub-typologies and final typologies within the mood changes analysis.

Example codes	Sub-typologies	Final typologies
Stress	Mental health concerns	Mood instability and constant change
Mood swings	Frustration
Irritability
Angry outbursts
Positive mood change
Pregnancy-related worry	Low mood	Low mood and parenting anxiety
Fatigue and weepiness
Nervousness
Pregnancy symptoms

Parsons, C., & Redman, S. (1991). Self-reported cognitive change during pregnancy. The Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, 9(1), 20–29.

 PubMedGoogle Scholar

Crawley, R. (2002). Self‐perception of cognitive changes during pregnancy and the early postpartum: Salience and attentional effects. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 16(6), 617–633. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.818

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Sharp, K., Brindle, P. M., Brown, M. W., & Turner, G. M. (1993). Memory loss during pregnancy. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 100(3), 209–215. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-0528.1993.tb15232.x

 Google Scholar

Orchard, E. R., Ward, P. G., Egan, G. F., & Jamadar, S. D. (2021). Baby-brain phenomena is a subjective experience: Absence of evidence for cognitive deficit in new mothers at one-year postpartum. bioRxiv, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.07.447303

 Google Scholar

Ross, L. E., Sellers, E. M., Gilbert Evans, S. E., & Romach, M. K. (2004). Mood changes during pregnancy and the postpartum period: Development of a biopsychosocial model. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 109(6), 457–466. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0047.2004.00296.x

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Li, H., Bowen, A., Bowen, R., Balbuena, L., Feng, C., Bally, J., & Muhajarine, N. (2020). Mood instability during pregnancy and postpartum: A systematic review. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 23(1), 29–41. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-019-00956-6

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Clark, A., Skouteris, H., Wertheim, E. H., Paxton, S. J., & Milgrom, J. (2009). My baby body: A qualitative insight into women’s body‐related experiences and mood during pregnancy and the postpartum. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 27(4), 330–345. https://doi.org/10.1080/02646830903190904

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Staneva, A. A., Bogossian, F., & Wittkowski, A. (2015). The experience of psychological distress, depression, and anxiety during pregnancy: A meta-synthesis of qualitative research. Midwifery, 31(6), 563–573. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2015.03.015

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Data availability statement

Data are available here: https://osf.io/k6xq9/