Before Chelsea Conaboy gave birth to her first child, she anticipated the joy of holding her newborn son, the endless dirty nappies and the sleepless nights. What she didn't expect was how different she would feel. It wasn't simply the extraordinary demands of this new role, but a shift in self - as deep as it was disorienting. In truth, something was changing: her brain.

New parents undergo major brain changes, driven by hormones and the deluge of stimuli a baby provides. These neurobiological changes help all parents - birthing or otherwise - adapt in those intense first days and prepare for a long period of learning how to meet their child's needs. Yet this science is mostly absent from the public conversation about parenthood.

Conaboy delves into the neuroscience to reveal unexpected upsides, generations of scientific neglect and a powerful new narrative of parenthood.

"Mother Brain feels like a book that will inspire today's new parents: socially alert, inclusive, kind . . . Conaboy promises a new route through the parenting wilds" - SUNDAY TIMES

"A compelling book that upends popular notions about becoming a parent. Conaboy beautifully expresses her experience as a mother and weaves this together with interviews with parents, the history of the idea of maternal instinct and an overview of research on how parenting changes the brain . . . MOTHER BRAIN reminds us why scientific research is a feminist issue" - NEW STATESMAN

"[Conaboy] deploys her journalistic skill to bring this complex subject to a readable level . . . Mother Brain isn't a parenting manual but rather a work of pop science jam-packed with neurobiological research; it's both fascinating and surprisingly readable . . . Highly recommended" - LIBRARY JOURNAL *starred review*

"Engaging . . . The author deftly translates scientific studies into accessible prose that speaks to needs and anxieties that many parents share" - KIRKUS REVIEWS

"An illuminating examination of the changes the brain goes through during parenthood. Surprising and enlightening, this should be required reading for all caregivers" - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, Starred Review

"Mother Brain offers a science-based reassurance that 'unlike a rigid instinct, [parental aptitude] also can be repaired and redirected' by any motivated caregiver" - SCIENCE MAGAZINE