Pregnancy Stretch Marks

Pregnancy stretch marks are a concern to women, especially in the late second trimester. As your baby bump grows, your skin also expands. Unfortunately, rapid expansion of the main layers of the skin means that there are gaps or tears between the supporting tissues and muscles, that run all the way through to the upper layers of skin. These gaps have no elastin or collagen and the resulting stretch marks are the visible scar results of rapid skin growth.

Ahhh, the things they never tell you about pregnancy! Because they're afraid to scare you off.

Fortunately, if you start preventative measures early enough, you can avoid developing stretch marks during pregnancy. And by researching preventative measures now, you can easily avoid the worst of the scars as your baby develops and make sure that anything you use to prevent stretch marks is safe for a pregnant women.

One of the easiest things to do to prevent pregnancy stretch marks is to drink water. However, we've gotten into the habit of treating water like it was medicine and drinking it in large quantities and only at certain times of the day. With the urge to go to the bathroom constantly while you're pregnant, I understand women doing this...however this will aggravate the growth of stretch marks.

Drink your water constantly during the day in smaller amounts.

Why you ask?

Well, 90% of our bodies are made out of water and the cells that carry elastin and collagen through the skin are made up primarily of water. It is very easy for a pregnant woman to become dehydrated. You can keep these cells healthy by making sure they are constantly getting the water they need.

If you cut down on the amount of water you drink or drink large amounts of water, let's say twice a day, you're leaving newly formed healthy skin cells prone to collapse, as your body will transport liquids to the organs and cells that need them the most. Not surprisingly, your skin is not high up on that list.

Look at it this way, you're going to have to go to the bathroom frequently anyway. Keep your skin and baby healthy by drinking plenty of liquids - on a constant basis.