Clare Hamlin

Head of Psychology

[Anish Moonka @anishmoonka]

Having a baby physically shrinks part of a woman's brain. Having a second baby shrinks a totally different part. Scientists in Amsterdam just figured out why, and the explanation involves the same process that happens in teenage brains.

This is from a research group in Amsterdam called the Pregnancy Brain Lab. They published their findings in Nature Communications on February 19, 2026. The team scanned the brains of 110 women. 40 were about to have their first baby, 30 were about to have their second, and 40 had never been pregnant. They scanned everyone before pregnancy and again after birth.

The results were so consistent that a computer program could look at any of those brain scans and correctly tell whether the woman had been pregnant. Every single time.

When a woman has her first baby, the biggest changes happen in the part of the brain that handles thinking about yourself and other people. The same region that runs daydreaming and inner monologue. That whole area visibly shrinks. And it stays shrunk for at least six years after birth, according to a 2021 follow-up study by the same team.

When she has a second baby, that same area shifts a little more, but the biggest changes happen somewhere else. They happen in the part of the brain that controls what you focus on, and the part that controls how your body moves. Even the wiring between the brain and the muscles becomes more efficient. Lead researcher Milou Straathof said it looks like the brain rewiring itself for taking care of more than one kid at a time.

The shrinking sounds bad. The lab compares it to what happens in teenage brains during puberty. Hormones flood the brain and trigger a kind of cleanup. Weak connections between brain cells get cleared away. The strong ones stay and get stronger. The brain ends up smaller, but the connections that remain work faster. The hormonal flood of pregnancy seems to do the same thing.

Elseline Hoekzema, who runs the Pregnancy Brain Lab and has been studying this since 2017, told CNN: sometimes less is more.

The pattern is layered. The first pregnancy does the deep work on identity and how a mom thinks about her baby. The second pregnancy adds a new layer focused on attention and movement.

About one in five new mothers globally develops postpartum depression. The same brain circuits being remodeled here are the ones tied to mood and bonding with the baby. Mapping what a healthy maternal brain looks like is the first step toward catching when something goes wrong.

[Clare Hamlin @clare_ham]

@DeputyGrocott @bilff 🎄🐷

[Mr G @DeputyGrocott]

🎁 #EduAdvent Day 13!
Because sometimes the best prize is pure joy (and sugar) 🐷💖

Win a Percy Pig mega bundle — packed with all the favourites to keep you smiling through December! Thank you @bilff for donating!

To enter:
✅ Like
🔁 Repost
🎄 Reply with a festive emoji

[Clare Hamlin @clare_ham]

@STEMyBanda I make everything in PowerPoint, sized to A4 portrait. SO much easier to make booklets and worksheets.

[Clare Hamlin @clare_ham]

It’s the 2010 AQA exam q about ‘fauna goo’ in real life! Knew it sounded familiar 😁 https://t.co/yb44d5r5LI

[Clare Hamlin @clare_ham]

@Mr_J_Harper @MrBoothY6 Lady Bay primary have just implemented it (I’m a parent) my kids love it!

[Clare Hamlin @clare_ham]

@KJF239 I second TK Maxx!

[Clare Hamlin @clare_ham]

@redgierob @adamboxer1 Another vote for labyrinth, and we have enjoyed bandito, a collaborative game to block off tunnels before the bandit escapes!

[Clare Hamlin @clare_ham]

I’ve returned as a teacher at school I attended as a yr 7 30 years ago. There are teachers & techs still here that taught me. One is PE! Phenomenal achievement.

[Tom Rogers @RogersHistory]

Would be nice to see more long serving classroom teachers on the education honours lists, your 30-40 year teachers and middle leaders operating in tough circumstances. Very rare to see them get recognised on there.

[Clare Hamlin @clare_ham]

I have asked for one of these for Christmas this year!! I’ve always wanted one- so why not?!

[Ron Manager Remembers Nottingham @ronmanagernottm]

By the end of Christmas Day 1976, I had labelled every inanimate object in the house, including a snoozing granddad.

[Clare Hamlin @clare_ham]

Highlight of our 3 day trip to London with 43 A level psych/soc students was the talk from @ScienceMagician on the psychology of magic. I LOVED it!!

[Clare Hamlin @clare_ham]

If you teach about Rosa Parks in your history curriculum, make sure your students know about Paul Stephenson too.

[Tristan Cork Post @TristanCorkPost]

Paul Stephenson, who led Bristol’s - and Britain’s - civil rights movement in the 1960s, has passed away.
If you didn’t know about him, or the campaigns he was involved in that changed the UK, here’s a thread - please share.

https://t.co/CMBkH6EzRW

[Clare Hamlin @clare_ham]

I was a huge fan of this, then trained to become a science teacher in 06/07. Disappointed in the lack of copy books to be honest.

[Tim Worthington @outonbluesix]

Why isn't Look Around You better known than it is? It might be a parody of a specific type of science programme but it's done in a way everyone can 'get', and with jokes that are basically the joke equivalent of earworms. Thanks Robert and Peter. Theter.

https://t.co/W34RgCqRIN

[Clare Hamlin @clare_ham]

@adamboxer1 But in terms of day to day teaching, some of the ‘how I teach’ blogs from bio teachers I’ve found through here have been amazing. Now I no longer teach biology, I need to build a new set of psychology teachers to follow!

[Clare Hamlin @clare_ham]

@adamboxer1 I did a residential course with the science learning centre in about 2009/10 on ‘leading change in the science curriculum’. It was great, and the best ‘leadership’ course I’ve done. And it was free, with money for my school!

[Clare Hamlin @clare_ham]

First day in a new school tomorrow! I’m sad that I won’t be involved in Biology any more, but really looking forward to getting totally immersed in psychology. Bring it on…

[Helen Day @LBFlyawayhome]

‘The end of the holidays’
Artist: Clive Uptton, 1964

[Clare Hamlin @clare_ham]

@Jeff_Pedley There was a smoking room in the staff room!

[Clare Hamlin @clare_ham]

@heymrshallahan @TeacherTapp That sounds amazing! When my teacher came to check up on me, I was assembling bongs to send down to Glastonbury 😂