Pregnancy changes your body in many ways, including your skin. While a few women's skin even improves during pregnancy due to the hormone estrogen, many pregnant women experience skin changes in the form of stretch marks, pigment spots, or even unpleasant itching.
Our founder and doctor Michaela explains the causes of typical skin changes during pregnancy and after birth and gives tips for caring for stressed skin:
STRETCH MARKS
Cause: Stretch marks are tiny tears in the subcutaneous fatty tissue that can occur primarily due to overstretching of the skin during pregnancy. However, hormonal changes themselves are also considered a cause of this irreparable damage to the skin.
Care tips: Fundamentally, you should know that stretch marks are largely related to your body's predisposition and skin condition and cannot be completely prevented.
By regularly caring for the skin, especially on the breasts, abdomen, buttocks, or legs, you can stimulate blood circulation and thus prepare the tissue against tears. You should therefore introduce daily oiling and creaming as a ritual right from the start of your pregnancy to pamper your stressed body. For this, you can use our skin-firming body oil or our rich body butter.
So-called "pinch massages" are particularly recommended, as they stimulate blood circulation and cell regeneration of the skin in affected areas. The same also applies to the time after birth. By regular massaging, you can sustainably strengthen your skin so that its elasticity gradually increases again.
PIGMENT SPOTS
Cause: Pigment spots are also among the classic skin changes during and after pregnancy and breastfeeding. The brownish pigmentation of the skin is caused by the excessive formation of the skin pigment melanin and can primarily be attributed to hormonal changes in the body. Pigment spots appear particularly in the areas of the forehead, eyes, or around the hairline.
Care tips: Pigment spots are reversible, meaning they can completely disappear after a few years. To prevent them, you should still use generous sunscreen with a high SPF, especially during the spring and summer months. Mineral sunscreen acts like a natural protective shield on the skin and prevents UV rays from penetrating the skin cells in the first place.
You can also read about the detailed differences between mineral and chemical sunscreen in our blog post on sun protection.
ITCHING
Causes: Besides stretch marks and pigment spots, itching is often another unpleasant side effect of hormonal changes and skin stretching during pregnancy. In addition, the skin during pregnancy is usually significantly drier than usual.
Care tips: Against regular itching, airy, breathable clothing without synthetic materials on the abdominal skin is particularly helpful. Additionally, you should regularly moisturize the skin to increase its elasticity. For particularly sensitive, delicate skin, you can especially rely on re-fattening substances like urea, shea butter, etc.
Should itching occur all over the body in the last trimester of pregnancy, we recommend seeking medical advice to rule out cholestasis.
Did you know? To prevent infections, pregnancy and C-section scars should only be cared for once wound healing is complete. If the scar still feels thick after the healing process, you can promote regeneration with blood circulation-boosting measures. To counteract itching, you can pamper the skin in the affected area with moisturizing cream and plant-based oils.
O U R E X P E R T
Dr. med Michaela Hagemann I boep founder, doctor & mother of 3
