10 Facts You Might Not Know About Being Pregnant

10 Facts You Might Not Know About Being Pregnant

10 Facts You Might Not Know About Being Pregnant

1. Mood Swings – your partner may already know this! Mood swings can be more severe during pregnancy. They can make you feel happy one minute and crying the next. They can be triggered by physical stresses, fatigue, changes in your metabolism, or by the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Hormones are chemicals that circulate in the blood and affect the body with their powerful and varied functions. Different hormones regulate body functions and carry messages from one part of the body to another. They are also responsible for recognising emotional triggers, such as crying during extreme sadness.

2. Hair and Nails – hormones also have an effect on the texture and strength of your hair and nails, sometimes even the colour. They can cause hair and nails to grow more quickly and / or become stronger, or for hair to become thinner and more oily. Extra fine hair may even appear in unwanted places, such as the face, lips or belly area.

3. Shoe Size Increase – the extra fluid caused by pregnancy can lead to swelling in the feet and the need for a larger shoe size. Luckily, this is not a permanent situation, and the swelling will reduce once the pregnancy is over.

4. Decrease on joint stability – the hormone relaxin is produced during pregnancy to help relax ligaments in preparation for birth. This means pregnant women can be prone to strains and pains, especially around the pelvis, lower back and knees. Women need to take care during exercise and avoid over stretching.

5. Varicose Veins – pregnancy hormones can cause the veins on the legs and genital area to become enlarged and more prominent. They usually disappear completely once pregnancy is over.

6. Constipation – progesterone slows digestion early in pregnancy so that the body can absorb more nutrients to pass to the foetus. Due to the slowing of the rate of food passing through the large and small bowel, it can cause constipation. In addition, as the uterus grows in size, it pushes up against the large intestine and can make it difficult for the faeces to pass through the digestive tract.

7. Skin – a range of skin changes can occur, such as developing acne loosing acne and the skin clearing, to brown patches on the face and this is called chloasma. Hyperpigmentation which is the darkening of the skin can occur to the nipples, external genitalia, and anal region. Skin can also result in having that ‘glow of pregnancy’ and is due to the increased amount of blood by 50%. 20% of this is extra red blood cells to carry more oxygen around the body. Hormones also cause the oil glands to become more active, resulting in a softer, shinier skin appearance.

8. Loss of concentration – this can be due to fatigue and morning sickness initially although hormone production may help in bringing about forgetfulness and the inability to concentrate in later pregnancy weeks.

9. Improved sense of smell and taste – this increases considerably during pregnancy and may be something that effects the different food cravings.

10. The foetus will take all the nutrients it needs first, so this can leave women lacking in nutrients especially iron. So its important to eat healthily.