Saturday 12th October
It’s no secret that during pregnancy a woman’s body changes. To be able to accommodate the new developing life, the body must change and adapt to allow the baby’s continual growth. This week we will look at the most common things that women can experience in each trimester.
When you become pregnant, there is a huge rush of hormones (oestrogen and progesterone). The sudden increase of hormones can cause changes in your skin, which is commonly referred to as “pregnancy glow”.
The huge rush of hormones can also cause nausea. Often referred to as “morning sickness” but it can happen throughout the day! Normally, nausea eases up after the first trimester.
When you become pregnant, you breathe more air. The actual amount more air that moves through your body is a whopping 30-50%! As your baby grows, your diaphragm can get more squished inside your body, which can mean it gets more difficult to get the extra air in. This can mean that you may find yourself experience shortness of breath.
You may experience muscle or joint aches, especially around your pelvis. This is due to the hormone relaxin. Its job is to help muscles in your cervix and uterus relax and help promote a healthy placenta, but its affects also cause muscles in your low back and pelvis to loosen too.
You may also find that you get an ache around your groin. This is due to stretching and straining of the round ligament (a really thick ligament that supports the uterus as it grows).
It can be normal to start to get more swelling as your circulation starts to slow a little. This is more common in your lower body, especially in your ankles. If you try to stand less and rest more, it may help pooling of fluid in your ankles.
As your baby grows and you experience further loosening up of your muscles and ligaments, some women can experience back pain.
As you get further through your pregnancy, your blood pressure can rise. It rises due to you having more blood in your body, so your heart has to work harder pumping it around. Sometimes this can be a link to you getting headaches.
As the hormone progesterone loosens the sphincter at the bottom of your oesophagus, food and acid can travel in the wrong direction and cause acid reflux or heartburn.
After birth, your postpartum period is a roller-coaster of hormone changes yet again. After birth you will be hit with endorphins, the feel-good hormone that help you manage the pain and stress that come with birth.
After day 3 or 4, your hormones will change again. The hormones that your placenta was producing will now be much lower in your body. This means that oestrogen and progesterone are at their lowest. Alongside sleep deprivation that is very common here, a lot of women can experience baby blues.
Breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact with your baby can trigger the release of the hormone oxytocin. Oxytocin is known as the love hormone because it increases with physical touch and is thought to promote bonding. Increased oxytocin in your body can help with the response to the steep decrease of oestrogen and progesterone, until your hormones start to level out again (your hormones normally level out to your “normal” once you have weaned!
