Skin changes during pregnancy and after birth – causes & care tips

Pregnancy changes your body in many ways, including your skin. While a few women's skin actually improves during pregnancy due to the hormone estrogen, many pregnant women have to deal with 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:

1. Stretch marks
2. Pigment spots
3. itching

STRETCH MARKS

Cause: Stretch marks are tiny tears in the subcutaneous fat tissue that can occur primarily due to overstretching of the skin during pregnancy. But the hormonal changes themselves are also considered to be the cause of this irreparable damage to the skin.

Care tips: Basically, you should know that stretch marks are largely related to your body's genetic makeup and skin condition and cannot be completely prevented.

By regularly caring for your skin, especially on your chest, stomach, buttocks or legs, you can stimulate blood circulation and protect the tissue from tears. You should therefore introduce daily oiling and creaming as a ritual from the beginning of your pregnancy to pamper your stressed body. For example, you can use our skin-tightening body oil or our rich body butter .

So-called plucking massages are particularly recommended, as they stimulate blood circulation and cell regeneration in the skin in the affected areas. The same applies to the period after birth. By massaging regularly, you can strengthen your skin in the long term, so that its elasticity gradually increases again.

PIGMENT SPOTS

Cause: Pigment spots are also one of the classic skin changes during and after pregnancy and breastfeeding. The brownish pigmentation of the skin is caused by the excessive production of the skin pigment melanin and can be attributed primarily to the hormonal changes in the body. Pigment spots appear more frequently in the areas of the forehead, eyes or around the hairline.

Care tips: Pigment spots are reversible, meaning they can disappear completely after a few years. To prevent them, you should use plenty of sunscreen with a high sun protection factor, especially in 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 the detailed differences between mineral and chemical sunscreen in our blog post on sun protection .

ITCHING

Causes : In addition to stretch marks and pigmentation, itching is often another unpleasant side effect of the hormonal changes and stretching of the skin during pregnancy. In addition, the skin is usually much drier during pregnancy than usual.

Care tips : Wearing airy, breathable clothing without synthetic materials on the stomach skin is particularly helpful against regular itching. In addition, you should moisturize the skin regularly to increase elasticity. If your skin is particularly sensitive, you can use moisturizing substances such as urea, shea butter, etc.

If the itching occurs all over the body in the last trimester of pregnancy, we recommend that you seek medical advice to rule out bile acid congestion.

Did you know? To avoid infections, pregnancy and Caesarean section scars should only be cared for once the wound has completely healed. If the scar still feels thick after the healing process, you can encourage regeneration by taking measures to stimulate blood circulation. To counteract any itching that occurs, you can pamper the skin in the affected area with moisturizer and plant oils .