‘Pregnancy nose’ and other weird changes

THERE are certain changes people expect to experience when they get pregnant. Whether that’s unconventional food cravings, a “glowing” complexion or morning sickness.

But some of the changes the body goes through during pregnancy can be a tad more unconventional.

Recently, many women have taken to social media to share photos and videos of their noses before and during pregnancy. The trend, being termed “pregnancy nose”, has highlighted how some women’s noses swell and change shape during pregnancy.

It’s not known how common this is as everyone’s hormone levels are different and everyone responds differently to changes in them. The change may also be more noticeable for some women.

This change is nothing to worry about and is only temporary, typically resolving six weeks after birth.

The reason it happens is due to the significant increases in hormone levels during pregnancy – particularly oestrogen, which relaxes the blood vessels in all the body’s tissues.

This allows more blood into the nose’s tissues, causing it to expand and change shape – looking larger and puffier. These hormonal changes can also cause a runny and stuffy nose (pregnancy rhinitis) and nosebleeds, which affects one in five pregnant women.

But pregnancy nose isn’t the only peculiarity your body may go through when expecting. Here are a few others:

Bigger heart

The heart undergoes a number of changes during pregnancy to accommodate the baby’s growth.

Just as the abdominal organs are squished and moved to make room for the growing foetus, the heart is pushed higher up in the chest as a result.

The heart also develops thicker muscles and changes size during pregnancy. This is because the heart has to work a lot harder at this time – beating up to eight times more per minute compared to pre-pregnancy – to pump the additional volume of blood around the body and to the baby.

In some cases, the amount of blood a woman circulates throughout her body doubles during pregnancy. This helps ensure there’s enough oxygen getting to the baby to support its development.

Changes in skin colour

Most of us have heard of the pregnancy “glow”, which causes some women’s skin complexion to appear brighter. But some women experience a condition known as melasma, which causes the skin around the eyes, nose, chin and upper lip to darken.

It’s common, affecting about 75% of pregnant women – but is more typical in women with darker complexions. These changes typically disappear shortly after birth or when they stop breast-feeding.

Increases in oestrogen and progesterone are thought to be involved.

Skin surrounding the nipple (called the areola) can also become darker during pregnancy. Again, it’s not entirely certain why this happens, but it could be to help newborn babies identify the nipple for feeding. For most women, their areola may remain slightly darker permanently after pregnancy.

Hair growth (and loss)

For many women, their hair grows and looks healthier during pregnancy thanks to the increase in oestrogen in the body, which causes the hair follicles to remain in growth mode.

Unfortunately, these hormone changes affect all hair follicles – not just those on the head.

This means that hair growth can also happen in less desirable places during pregnancy – including the upper lip, upper thighs, abdomen and back. This disappears after pregnancy.

Some women also find that they lose their hair instead during pregnancy. This process is typically caused by the shock of pregnancy on the body, leading the hairs to go into a “resting” phase then shed. This usually subsides as the pregnancy progresses.

Hair loss can also happen after giving birth, due to the drop in oestrogen levels as hormones return to normal. Hair loss usually peaks around four months after birth. In most cases, hair grows back and returns to normal.

Oral health changes

Pregnancy can cause many changes in oral health.

Increases in oestrogen and progesterone can make the gums more susceptible to bleeding, infection and damage.

About 70% of pregnant women experience gingivitis. Teeth are also at an increased risk of damage and cavities, especially if a woman has experienced morning sickness. This is because stomach acid can dissolve the protective lining on teeth.

Teeth may also feel wobbly during pregnancy. This is due to oestrogen levels and increases in a hormone called relaxin. It causes all ligaments in the body to become more flexible during pregnancy to aid in childbirth. But while this is useful in some parts of the body (such as the pelvis), relaxin also affects the ligament anchoring each individual tooth in place, causing teeth to feel loose.

In rare cases, tooth loss can happen. It isn’t clear how many pregnant women experience tooth loss.

What is clear is that it’s more likely to happen to women who have been pregnant multiple times, and women who come from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Typically, if a woman loses teeth in pregnancy, it’s due to years of poor oral health.