Table 1:

Cognition in the Postpartum Period. Direction of Results indicates which group or timepoint showed better performance, for example “Controls>Postpartum” indicates superior performance in the control group, “n.s” indicates non-significance. The significant differences column indicates the cognitive domain(s) which showed significant effects. Significant effects that suggest cognitive improvement in the postpartum period are colored pink, and those that suggest deficits are colored grey. No Significant Differences indicates the cognitive domains which did not show significant effects, shown in blue. Sleep and Mood indicate whether a study has collected (Y) measures of sleep or mood, or not (N).

Cognitive Domain(s)
	N	Time Postpartum	Direction of Results	Significant Difference	No Significant Difference	Parity	Sleep	Mood
Cross-Sectional Studies
Eidelman et al. (1993)	100 Postpartum, 20 Controls,	3 days	n.s	-	Verbal Memory Visuospatial Memory	Multiparous Mothers, Nulliparous Controls	N	N
Swain et al. (1997)	30 Postpartum, 28 Controls	3 weeks	n.s	-	Memory Attention Psychomotor Speed	Mothers Not Stated, Parous Controls	Y	Y
Parsons et al. (2004)	7 Primiparous, 9 Multiparous	1 month	Multiparous>Primiparous	Verbal Memory	Verbal Fluency Trail-Making Comprehension Semantic Memory Attention Executive Control Visuospatial Skill Non-Verbal IQ	7 Primiparous, 9 Multiparous	N	Y
Almanza-Sepulveda et al. (2018)	27 Postpartum, 25 Controls	2–6 months	Controls>Postpartum	Spatial Working Memory	Executive Function	Not Stated	N	Y
Janes et al., (1999)	20 Postpartum, 20 Controls	0–12 months	Controls>Postpartum	Working Memory	Implicit Memory Explicit Memory	Primiparous Mothers, Nulliparous Controls	Y	Y
Casey et al. (1999)	44 Postpartum, 23 Controls	0–12 months (n=22), >12months (n=22)	n.s	-	Implicit Memory Explicit Memory Semantic Memory Short-Term Memory Prospective Memory	Mothers Not Stated, Nulliparous Controls	Y	Y
Orchard et al. (2021)	43 Postpartum, 43 Controls	12 months	n.s.	-	Verbal Memory Short-Term Memory Working Memory Processing Speed Theory of Mind	Primiparous Mothers, Nulliparous Controls	Y	Y
Pownall et al. (2021)	102 Pregnant 126 Postpartum 136 Controls	0–2 years	Postpartum and Controls>Pregnant	Verbal Memory	-	Primiparous Pregnant Women, Nulliparous Controls, Postpartum Not Stated	N	N
			Controls>Pregnant and Postpartum	Verbal Memory
Miller et al. (2020)	36 Postpartum, 62 Controls	3.5 years	Postpartum>Controls	Executive Control Accuracy	Alerting Disengaging Moving + Engaging Orienting	Mothers Not Stated, Nulliparous Controls	Y	N
			Controls>Postpartum	Reaction Time
Longitudinal Studies
Stark (2000)	56 Mothers	1 week	Postpartum>Pregnancy	Divided Attention	Working Memory Short-Term Memory Directed Attention Mental Effort	89.5% Primiparous, 10.5% Multiparous	N	Y
Harris et al. (1996)	20 Postpartum, 20 Controls	1 month	n.s	-	Executive Function Attention Logical Memory Processing Speed Psychomotor Speed	Not Stated	N	Y
Hoekzema et al. (2018)	25 Postpartum, 20 Controls	2.5 months	n.s	-	Verbal Memory Working Memory Reaction Time	Primiparous Mothers, Nulliparous Controls	N	Y
Rutherford & Anderson (2020)	25 Postpartum, 25 Controls	3 months	n.s	-	Verbal IQ Non-Verbal IQ Full-Scale IQ	Primiparous Mothers, Nulliparous Controls	Y	N
Glynn (2010)	254 Postpartum, 48 Controls	3 months	Controls>Postpartum	Verbal Memory	Working Memory Facial Recognition	Mothers: 44% Primiparous, 56% Multiparous, Controls: 42% Nulliparous, 58% Parous	N	N
Henry & Sherwin (2012)	55 Postpartum, 21 Controls	3 months	Controls>Postpartum	Verbal Memory Executive Function	Paragraph Recall Spatial Ability Attention	Primiparous Mothers, Nulliparous Controls	Y	Y
Farrar et al. (2014)	23 Postpartum, 24 Controls	3 months	Control>Postpartum	Spatial Recognition	Working Memory Divided Attention Perceptual Matching	Mothers: 39% Primiparous, 61% Multiparous, Controls: 46% Nulliparous, 54% Parous	N	Y
Logan et al. (2014)	21 Postpartum, 21 Controls	3–6 months	n.s	-	Verbal Learning Working Memory Cognitive Control Visuospatial Memory Processing Speed	Mothers Not Stated, Nulliparous Controls	N	Y
Casey (2000)	28 Mothers, 24 Controls	2–8 months	n.s	-	Vocabulary Short-Term Memory Working Memory Semantic Memory Abstract Reasoning	Not Stated	Y	Y
de Groot et al. (2006)	57 Postpartum, 50 Controls	8 months	Controls>Postpartum	Verbal Memory Information Processing	Processing Speed	Mothers: 40% Primiparous, 60% Multiparous, Controls: 30% Nulliparous, 70% Parous	N	N
Mickes et al. (2009)	37 Mothers	3–12 months	Postpartum>Pregnancy	Verbal Memory	Recognition Memory	Not Stated	N	N
Crawley et al. (2003)	25 Mothers, 10 Controls	10–13 months	n.s	-	Verbal Memory Focused Attention Divided Attention	Mothers: 36% Primiparous, 64% Multiparous, Controls: 50% Nulliparous, 50% Parous	N	N
Rendell & Henry (2008)	15 Mothers	13 months	Postpartum>Pregnancy	Naturalistic Prospective Memory	-	Mothers: 70% Primiparous, 30% Multiparous, Controls: 70% Nulliparous, 30% Parous	Y	N
Buckwalter et al. (2001)	11 Mothers	2 years	Postpartum>Pregnancy	Attention Psychomotor Speed	IQ Visual Perception	Not Stated	Y	Y
Christensen et al. (2010)	188 Postpartum, 542 Controls	Not Stated	n.s	-	Verbal Memory Working Memory Processing Speed	Primiparous Mothers, Nulliparous Controls	Y	Y
Keenan et al. (1998)	10 Postpartum, 10 Controls	Not Stated	n.s	-	Implicit Memory Explicit Memory	Mothers Not Stated, Non-Pregnant Controls	Y	Y