Pregnancy is a beautiful journey for expecting mothers, but it can also come with its fair share of challenges. One of the most common issues that many pregnant women face is changes in their skin due to hormonal fluctuations. These changes can cause a range of skin issues such as acne, stretch marks, darkening of the skin, and melasma. The increased levels of hormones, particularly estrogen and progesterone, can cause an overproduction of oil in the skin, leading to breakouts and acne.
According to Dr Deepti Rana, Senior Consultant, Dermatology, Max Multi Speciality Centre, Panchsheel Park, the most seen is pigmentation. Firstly, on the face, which is known as Chloasma, the Mask of pregnancy is also known as Melasma.
Secondly, pigmentation of body folds, pigmentation around the nipple area, and the areola. Often the patient’s, due to the growing size of the foetus, face pigmentation, darkening and stretch marks around the breast area and the abdomen.
Sometimes women notice a lot of hair fall during pregnancy or post-delivery and a lot of changes in the nails, that is, nails are growing very fast, and a lot of acne can get aggravated especially if somebody has a history of acne.
A few lesser known are Prurigo of pregnancy, that is, continuous itching and few lesions and red spots on the body, which is also known as Pruritic urticarial papules and Plaques of pregnancy.
These are the most common things that happen during pregnancy which are all treatable but should not be left undiagnosed or untreated as it can be debilitating and can also be uncomfortable for the patient.
Most of these issues do get cleared up once the child is delivered, but some of them like Melasma, acne and hair fall can persist post-delivery. Due to immunological changes that happen during pregnancy, it is seen that itching usually clears because of the immunological changes that happen during pregnancy. once notice any of these skin issues during pregnancy must visit a consultant.
