5 Ways Your Body Changes Post Pregnancy | Hea Boosters

Carrying and nurturing a tiny human being for nine months is no small feat. Saying that your body changes after growing and delivering your little one is an understatement. It is natural to feel worried or surprised when you notice the changes.

However, do not stress extensively. In a few months, you will feel like yourself again. While you are most probably surfing through similar stories of other moms, here’s a list of post-pregnancy body changes.

5 post-pregnancy body changes:

Hair has a natural life cycle that gets extended due to the higher levels of estrogen in your body while you are pregnant. After delivery, all of these hormones go back to normal levels (except prolactin). As your levels of estrogen decrease post-delivery, you generally start noticing excessive hair fall but this isn’t anything to be alarmed about.

Your hair fall has returned to its regular pre-pregnancy amount. What seems like extra hair loss is just old strands of hair that were enjoying a longer life on account of high estrogen levels during your pregnancy. This can take almost six months. You just have to wait it out, reduce heat treatments, and make sure that you are having nutritious food in the meantime.

During pregnancy, your body tends to store extra water which can lead to swelling in your hands or feet. After the first week of delivery, you will start losing this stored water.

Did you think pregnancy only affects your mid-section? Change in weight during pregnancy may flatten your foot arch, which increases the length of your foot. Therefore, a shoe bigger than your previous size may feel comfortable. On the bright side, you could always use this as an excuse to shop for more shoes.

Yes, you heard it right. While they don’t go away completely, over a period of time, the stretch marks do become progressively lighter.

After delivery, prolactin levels increase, which helps produce breastmilk. Increased blood flow to your breasts, milk and prolactin will make your breasts feel bigger.

Your breasts may feel pretty hard and sore but the soreness will go away once you start breastfeeding. If you have chosen not to breastfeed, then it may take up to a week to resolve. Wearing a bra with good support will help meanwhile.

There are a few other changes that you may notice, like widening of hips, nipples being darker, change in appetite, acne and breakouts. These are very common and reading and talking about other mom stories will help you feel better.

However, every mom has different experiences, try not to compare your journey to theirs. Splurge on your new shoes, buy new, comfortable (and perhaps even sexier) bras and invest in good hair spas, or pamper yourself in any other way that might make you feel better.

These changes are normal and they happen to everyone, so don’t be too hard on yourself and try and appreciate the wonders of your body.

Sources:

[1] Postpartum hair fall is due to a decrease in levels of estrogen:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3884776/

[2] Hairloss in new moms:
https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/hair-loss/insider/new-moms

[3] Water retention in new moms post-pregnancy
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4862000/

[4] Pregnancy may affect the foot arch forever
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3596423/

[5] Factors influencing breast changes after pregnancy
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23022745/