During pregnancy, the woman goes through great physical stress, but also strong hormonal changes, which can also be reflected in the outward appearance. Skin changes are a normal side effect of pregnancy. Not every expectant mother is affected and the skin changes can have different degrees of severity.
They mainly have negative effects, but can also have a positive effect on the skin. Often all the abnormalities disappear sooner or later after birth. However, permanent changes can also occur, but these are mostly harmless. Most of the undesirable changes have more of a cosmetic than a medical relevance. Nevertheless, from a psychosomatic point of view, they must be considered.
Causes
As a cause of the skin changes during pregnancy, various aspects play a role. The skin is increasingly strained by the ever growing belly and the usually increasing weight. The hormone levels rise and the supply of nutrients changes to a growing organism.
More is demanded of the female body – and the female body adapts to this. For example, pregnant women sweat more, which increases the risk of skin irritation. Skin changes during pregnancy include improvement of the skin condition as well as various skin problems. Below are the most common skin changes.
Improvement of the skin condition
Oestrogen is the female sex hormone and is produced in the ovaries (ovaries) depending on the cycle. If the woman is pregnant, oestrogen is released in increased quantities and the hormone level rises. The increase causes increased water retention in the skin, which makes it appear firmer and wrinkles can be repaired.
In addition, oestrogen increases blood circulation, which results in a healthy complexion. Due to the improved supply of oxygen and nutrients, skin impurities can disappear. In addition, expectant mothers report fuller and healthier looking hair – also an effect of estrogen, which causes hair to fall out later.
Swollen skin and reddened face
If the estrogen has too strong an effect on the skin and too much water is stored, the face may look swollen. In addition, the increased blood circulation can cause redness of the skin, which already existed before the pregnancy, to intensify or new redness to develop. During exertion the cheeks usually turn red more quickly than usual. Experience shows that this phenomenon disappears quickly after the end of the pregnancy.
All articles in this series:
