Health and Skincare during pregnancy

Modern life is stressful and although pregnancy is an exciting time, it can also take its toll on your body. In addition to gentle exercise there are others things you should take into account that will help you to feel and look your best.

Skincare:
For some, the ‘glow’ of pregnancy is evident and for those lucky women with seemingly perfect complexions, skincare is not an issue. However, for the majority of women, an increase in hormones means havoc for the skin.

Pigmentation Changes:
The effect of the pregnancy hormones in your system could because certain areas of your body to darken visibly. The areolas around your nipples may take on a darker hue and during pregnancy a line may appear from the centre of your abdomen (just below the navel) to the top of the pubic bone.

Changes in skin pigmentation may appear on the face of pregnant women: dark patches on light-skinned women and light patches in dark-skinned women. This is sometimes referred to as Pregnancy Mask or Chloasma. Usually, these patches of colour disappear gradually, after delivery. Connections have been made between skin changes of this type and a lack of folic acid, an essential B vitamin.

To counteract this, make sure you eat plenty of green, leafy vegetables, fruit and cereals: all good sources of folic acid. When taken early in pregnancy, folic acid helps to prevent birth defects of the brain and spinal cord. Have a look at diet for a healthy pregnancy and our video guide on what food to avoid, for more help in this area. Certain foundations may help to conceal these pigmentation changes, if you feel self-conscious about them. Consult a beauty therapist or assistant on a make-up counter.

Stretch Marks:
Red lines, known as stretch marks or striae gravidarum, may make an appearance on the parts of your body that see an increase in size, namely your breasts and abdomen. The reason that these marks appear is due to a break down in the natural collagen and elastin found in your skin as it is stretched. As collagen fibres reproduce to combat this process, the brightly coloured lines appear. This can be itchy as well as unsightly. A good natural remedy for this, if your skin is itchy and tingling, is the cooling aloe vera gel, which can be found in most good chemists and health shops.

Preventing Stretch Marks:
The bad news is that, for the most part, this is something you cannot control. Whether you get stretch marks or not will be affected by heredity and ethnicity. Use your own mother as a guide. If she got them, there is a good chance you will fare the same way. Similarly, if you are dark-skinned, you are less likely to get them and if you are very fair-skinned, you are more likely to, although this is rather general.

In terms of stretch mark prevention, the best advice is to keep your skin as moisturised and hydrated as possible. Because of the chance that products will be absorbed into your bloodstream, and therefore reach your baby, it is best to keep to using natural products that will be harmless should this happen. A base oil, like sweet almond oil, or a pure medical grade cocoa butter, both products that most chemists’ stock behind the counter will suffice nicely. Of course, there are many products on the market, specifically designed to counteract stretch marks, but caution should be exercised.

Additionally, wearing a good support bra should help to minimise the risk of marks appearing on your breasts.

Sleep:
Do you need 8 hours a night or can you survive on six? The BBC recently reported the findings of a survey, which suggested that new parents can lose up to 2 months worth of sleep in the first year with their new baby; a figure based on losing some 90 minutes worth of sleep every night.

When you think about it in those stark terms, it is a good idea to make sure you are as rested as can be during your pregnancy. Soon, sleep will become a distant luxury. Having enough sleep will allow you to cope with your day as well as allowing restful time in which your baby can relax. Having enough sleep is important as it helps you to maintain a good sense of mental wellbeing.

If you are having problems with sleeping read our article tips for a good night's sleep for some helpful advice.

Getting Away:
Now is the time! If you already have children, try to find a helpful relative (or worst case scenario: your partner) to look after them for a night. If not, enjoy the freedom and pack up for a weekend break. This is your 'babymoon' and you should enjoy it. Nothing is better tonic for rising stress levels than a bit of time out. If you have the money to spend, then there are plenty of spa breaks than promise to pamper you within an inch of your life. Or you could go and visit that friend you have been meaning to spend some time with. Wherever you go, try and do something that will relax you and help you to forget about the daily trials of life.

Why not chat to other mums-to-be about health and beauty, or other topics, by leaving a message on our chat forum. Alternatively, if you want to meet other mums in your area with similar age babies, visit our people section of the site to find out what is happening in your area, or join or start one of our groups.

If you have any unanswered questions, use our questions page to gain wisdom from other mums or our resident experts for all those pregnancy or baby-related niggles.