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9 Body Changes After Childbirth We Had No Idea Were Real
After a baby is born, it gets a lot of attention from doctors and from numerous relatives. But few people actually know what is happening to the baby’s mother. Her body goes through many changes, some of which are good and some aren’t.
Bright Side tried to find out what changes happen to a woman’s body during pregnancy and after childbirth.
Shoe size increases.
Researchers measured the legs of 49 women during pregnancy and 6 months after labor. During this period, the length of the foot increased by 2-10 millimeters. According to statistics, 70% of women have experienced this. Interestingly, only the first child influences the size of the foot.
It is believed that the change in the size of the foot is caused by the hormone relaxin. It makes the joints and the tendon more flexible. It’s possible that it also affects the feet.
If a baby is big, the mother’s chest might become wider.
This may sound strange, but 4 women spoke about this phenomenon in an interview with The Cut. According to them, the difference before and after is one size in clothing.
Hips become wider.
The hormone relaxin that we described before, relaxes the tendon where the pelvis bones connect which is why the hips may become wider. This is necessary to make sure that labor goes well. Some women return to their original form soon after labor, and some end up with a much wider pelvis.
Women might still feel the baby move in the womb.
During the first months after having a baby, women might still feel phantom kicks in the belly. This happens because of muscle spasms and gas or because the uterus is still continuing to contract. These “kicks” scare young mothers, because they feel like they are pregnant again.
Most of the time, these sensations disappear within a few months after labor. But some women claim that they still feel their babies move many years after they are born.
Hair and eye color may change.
A pregnancy expert from California claims that pregnancy can even change hair and eye color. She thinks this happens because of a hormonal imbalance which causes a lack of melanin. For some, the changes in appearance are temporary, and for others, they are permanent. Many women have even had their hair change to gray after childbirth.
Taste preferences change.
After pregnancy, taste preferences may change quite a bit: instead of sweet foods, women start to enjoy spicy foods and vice versa. The reason is the same: there is a hormone imbalance in the body and nobody knows how it will affect the behavior of the mother.
Women start to sweat more.
Most women start to sweat more after they have a baby. Most of the time, it happens episodically at night. It is often caused by a drop in estrogen levels in the blood. This is a natural process, but in some cases, it may be caused by problems with the thyroid.
Some women develop allergic reactions.
Unfortunately, there are very few studies about the allergies that mothers develop, this is why it is hard for doctors to talk about the reasons. It is believed that during pregnancy, the immune system suppresses all reactions, to all irritations, to make it easier for the woman. And after pregnancy, this mechanism stops working and the body kind of “searches” for things to react to: food, fur, etc.
Tattoos may get ruined.
This is especially true for the tattoos on the belly, which is not surprising. But pregnancy may also affect the tattoos on other parts of the body: the hips, the chest, the breasts, the forearms, the back, and anywhere else that stretch marks may appear.
We were very surprised at the low number of studies done about the changes in women’s bodies after pregnancy. Let’s fill this gap: tell us about the odd and unusual things that happened in your body after you had a baby!
