Your Pampered Pregnancy

A. Many hormones are responsible for the change of your skin while pregnant. Some of the most noticeable skin changes during pregnancy involve pigmentation. The "mask of pregnancy" is one that is often written about. It's a darkening of the skin usually around the sides of the face and the forehead. The pigment changes are probably due to the increase in the melanocyte-stimulating hormone during early pregnancy, as early as the first month, which then usually drops off after delivery. We don't know what levels are associated with women who get a lot of pigmentation. Some women develop a dark line, called the linea nigra, which runs down the middle of the abdomen. Spider veins are also common changes that happen on the legs and sometimes on the arms and the abdomen. Another common skin change during pregnancy is acne. You'll notice outbreaks mostly on the face, but sometimes the shoulders and the backs of the arms. Again, there aren't any specific hormones that cause these, but increases in both estrogen and progesterone are known to cause acne throughout life.