Pregnancy and breastfeeding: what is normal for skin, hair and legs, and which treatments wait

What is normal for skin, hair and legs in pregnancy

• Darker skin: melasma, the mask of pregnancy, often shows as brown or grey-brown patches on the cheeks, forehead, nose or upper lip; it may lighten after the birth.
• Breakouts, blackheads or dry patches: hormones change how much oil the skin makes, so some women break out more and others feel drier.
• Stretch marks: very common, in between 55 and 90 percent of pregnancies; nothing has been shown to prevent them reliably.
• Hair: many women find it fuller in pregnancy, and the extra hairs often shed a few months after the birth.
• Legs: some swelling of the ankles, feet and fingers, often worse at the end of the day and in hot weather, and spider or varicose veins that often shrink back after the birth.

Which clinic treatments wait until after breastfeeding?

At CREAMÉ, all of them that act on the skin or body. Anti-wrinkle injections are not given in pregnancy or while breastfeeding, because the safety of botulinum toxin in pregnancy has not been adequately studied. The US Food and Drug Administration says the safety of dermal fillers in pregnancy and breastfeeding is unknown, so filler, lip filler and skin boosters wait too, as do polynucleotides and PRP, whose studies leave pregnant and breastfeeding women out.

Device and facial treatments wait for the same reason: BBL HEROic, MOXI, Sylfirm X, HIFU (Ultraformer MPT), Volnewmer, the HydraFacial, Dermadrop and Heleo4 LED, laser hair removal, icoone and Endosphères. Heat treatments wait as well: a raised body temperature in early pregnancy has been linked to a higher risk of neural tube defects, so the infrared sauna dome is not for you then, and whole-body cryotherapy waits too.

Can I have a facial, HIFU or anti-wrinkle injections while pregnant?

Not with us. Pregnancy and breastfeeding are on our list of reasons to postpone every facial we offer, every device and every injection, and we plan them for after you have finished breastfeeding. If you have had a treatment before you knew you were pregnant, tell your doctor: for botulinum toxin, records of pregnancies exposed before they were known found birth defects no more common than in the general population, though that does not prove it harmless. Filler lasts for months, so if you are trying for a baby, it is worth deciding with the doctor whether to wait.

Breakouts, melasma and dry skin in pregnancy: what helps meanwhile

Keep skin care simple: a gentle cleanser, a plain moisturiser for dry patches, and a broad-spectrum sunscreen every day, ideally tinted, with a hat and shade, which helps melasma fade and keeps it from darkening. Some acne medicines are not used in pregnancy: the UK's acne guideline says retinoids applied to the skin and tetracycline antibiotic tablets should be avoided then and when planning a pregnancy, and isotretinoin can seriously harm a developing baby. Retinol and tretinoin creams are best left aside too.

Ask the doctor looking after your pregnancy before starting, stopping or changing any treatment, including a lightening cream. Never stop a prescribed medicine on your own.

Swollen legs and new veins: what to do, and when to call a doctor

For ordinary swelling, rest with your feet raised when you can, walk regularly and avoid standing for long. Veins that appear in pregnancy usually shrink back at least partly in the first months after the birth; guidelines advise against treating varicose veins in pregnancy except in exceptional circumstances, and decisions about treatment usually wait three to six months after delivery. Our phlebologist, Dr. Marat Takoev, can look at your veins then.

Some signs need your midwife or doctor straight away: a sudden increase in swelling of the face, hands or feet, a very bad headache, problems with your sight or severe pain just below the ribs, which can be signs of pre-eclampsia; and a calf that is painful, swollen, red or warm, since pregnancy and the weeks after a birth raise the risk of a blood clot.

What can go ahead at any time

• A doctor's look at your skin, a mole or a patch that has changed, with Dr. Svetlana Tagaeva, our Medical Director.
• A trichology assessment for hair loss; several medicines for hair loss are avoided in pregnancy and breastfeeding, so the doctor takes that into account.
• Daily sun protection and gentle skin care.
• Planning: when you have finished breastfeeding, the doctor starts from what is still there, since much settles by itself.