Powered-Up Pregnancy

You dont have to take a dip in radioactive waste to get superpowers just make a baby!

Okay, so you may not be able to move around with swan-like grace or bend down to pick up a pen, but you may discover yourself developing a few enhanced abilities courtesy of your baby bump. Just ask Kelly Clarkson. Back in 2015, the original American Idol told USA TODAY that she was able to sing better when she was expecting her first child, River Rose Blackstock. “I was just more passionate,” shared the singer. “The vocals were more intense, and I loved recording.” While there’s no scientific explanation why, Kelly personally believes her vocal abilities improved because she was more in tuned with her feelings and emotions while pregnant.

She isn’t the only mama to feel imbued with extraordinary pregnancy powers. During those nine months, a woman’s body experiences a myriad of changes. Aside from the obvious physical transformation, a 2016 study published by Nature Neuroscience revealed that pregnancy causes a significant overhaul to the brain that lasts for two years after birth. After performing detailed anatomical brain scans on a group of women, the research revealed that their brains adapted to motherhood by increasing social awareness to make mothers more sensitive to the needs of their babies. If growing a small human inside you can trigger a redesign of the brain itself, what else can manifest because of pregnancy? Like how a person in a life-and-death situation can summon extreme strength, do we trigger a hidden reserve of superpowers the moment new life starts to flicker within us?

Sensory Overdrive

One of the hallmarks of pregnancy is the wacky rollercoaster of hormonal changes. The rise and fall of various hormones doesn’t just affect your mood, it also alters your senses. Food cravings or aversions, as well as nausea, are familiar ways super senses affect you during pregnancy and is caused by a keener sense of smell and turbo-charged taste buds.