Motherhood Make Women Smarter

Because smart is such a vague term, I broke the brain-boosting benefits of motherhood down into five attributes in the book: perception, efficiency, resiliency, motivation, and emotional intelligence. Each category is supported by many animal studies as well as some human studies showing ways in which mothers have an edge. The first category, perception, deals primarily with the five senses. One of the most interesting studies showed pregnant women had sharper "visual acuity" than women who weren't expecting. By that I don't mean they suddenly had 20/20 vision but they did notice a lot more.

Studies show that pregnant women also have an enhanced sense of smell, which theoretically serves to protect the unborn baby from foods that are potentially harmful. Other findings show that mothers can experience a boost in motivation, fearlessness, and the ability to multitask and cope with stress. There's also exciting new research suggesting that oxytocin — a hormone important to labor and breastfeeding — improves moms' capacity for learning and memory.

Emotional intelligence is probably the clearest category in which mothers benefit, though. One of the biggest brain boosts for moms is the ability to see the world through someone else's eyes. In so many relationships, if you don't agree with a person you can just walk away. But you can't walk away from your child. At least, not if you want to be a good parent. Instead, you've got to stretch your mind to understand his point of view.

In what ways did motherhood make you smarter?

I found motherhood tremendously stimulating, like getting a crash course in human nature. I also got much better at time management. Because I'd been a newspaper reporter, I thought I was good with deadlines. But when I had a baby, the deadlines got a lot less flexible. I was forced to manage my days in a whole new way.

As a mother, the notion of having less time to waste informs your whole life. I became smarter about networking with other women, handling chaos, and dealing with difficult people. I know if I returned to the daily newsroom today, I'd be more savvy in dealing with editors having temper tantrums! Apparently former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright shares my viewpoint. When asked which part of parenting helped most in her subsequent diplomatic career, she answered, "Getting people to play well together!"

More generally, motherhood helped me focus on the future. I became determined to prioritize things, like environmental issues, that will matter more in my children's life than my own. At the same time, I found the motivation to accomplish other ambitions I'd had for many years. For instance, I'd always wanted to have a close-knit group of friends, more creativity in my work, and a lifestyle that would give me the leeway to write longer articles and books. All those things came true after I had children. It wasn't simply the act of being a mother, it was thinking about what I wanted to accomplish for myself and for my kids.