11 Permanent Body Changes After Pregnancy You Might Face

You realized your life would never be the same as soon as you found out you were pregnant! You also anticipated physical changes, such as weight gain while pregnant or developing more prominent breasts. 

The good news is that following birth, most of these alterations will return to how they were during pregnancy. However, specific alterations might never be reverted. 

So read on to learn why your body changes permanently after pregnancy before complaining, "My body is damaged after delivering a child." This blog covers 11 typical postpartum physical changes you might face.

1. Changes in Skin 

During pregnancy, the expected women's skin experiences various changes. You might sometimes experience darkening of your face, neck, areolas, stomachs, freckles, and moles. 

It happens due to estrogen hormones. Pregnancy also induces ‘Linea Nigra’ a pregnancy line that is a shady vertical line that runs from the abdomen to the pubic hair area. Nonetheless, it may not wholly vanish after delivery, even though it disappears ultimately.

Further, some women can get dark patches on their faces, known as chloasma. After delivery, most of these patches will fade within numerous months, but some women might have them for some years.

2. Stretch Marks

Women commonly get stretch marks during pregnancy, as 8 out of 10 encounter them. As your pregnancy period moves, they usually appear on the abdomen, the upper thighs, and breasts. 

Stretch marks arise when your skin cannot cope with the expansion of the body. Also, they occur when there is a break in the elastic fibers under the skin's surface. 

Generally, stretch marks vanish automatically after delivery. But when they fade, they might turn silver or white. So we can say that stretch marks do not disappear entirely. There is no steadfast proof showing that oil, home remedies, or skin creams can extract stretch marks once they appear, but you can try them. 

3. Diabetes

According to an analysis, pregnancy-related diabetes or high blood sugar is a significant problem in India, impacting approximately five million women yearly. Suppose women with a history of gestational diabetes experience a glucose tolerance examination 6–12 weeks after delivery. In that case, 2 to 16% are analyzed with type 2 diabetes, and 36% are considered intolerant to carbohydrates.

Women with previous gestational diabetes retain a 36–70 percent threat of conceiving type 2 Diabetic Mellitus later in life, relying on risk factors. The risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disorders in life increases for women with a record of negative pregnancy results.

4. Hanging Breasts After Delivery

One of pregnancy's most unfortunate long-term effects is hanging or sagging breasts. In medical terms, it is called ptosis. Your breasts might not perk up once they have lowered because they lack muscle. 

The breasts are connected to the muscles of your chest through ligaments. Thus, droopy breasts are induced by stretching the ligaments and elastin that uphold tissue in position. Pregnancy prolongs the ligaments, which don’t tighten again after giving birth to a baby. Hence we can say that once your breasts dangle, they might never be in the same shape as earlier. 

5. Vaginal Shifts 

After a vaginal delivery, your vagina and vaginal opening often shrink back to their actual size. But if you have a large newborn, a baby with a big head, or have given more than one vaginal birth, the odds of your vagina returning to its original size are lower.

In that case, your vagina gets looser, smoother, and more open from the pre-birth shape. You might face difficulty placing tampons since they might not stay inside your vagina. 

Further, Vaginal transformations can happen due to multiple factors, including delivery procedure, child size, genetics, and obesity. Women might even undergo pigment changes in the vulva, specifically in the area between the vaginal entrance and anus. 

6. Broader Hips

During pregnancy, your hips widen to adapt to your child’s growing weight and the shifts in your body size. So the transformations in the bone structure after pregnancy can drive the widening of the hips in females.

Moreover, broader ribs and hips might even persist after giving birth to a baby. Also, the weight you gain during pregnancy can contribute to the hips staying wider after delivery.

7. Modifications in Pelvic Floor 

During pregnancy, pelvic floor muscles help pelvic organs like the uterus, bladder, and bowel. So at this time, additional strain is set on these muscles because of the baby's weight. Also, due to vaginal delivery, your pelvic floor muscles can sometimes get harmed or stretched.

Furthermore, the pelvic muscles also aid in controlling the bladder from weakening after delivery. The nerves and supporting tissue of the bladder can also get hurt. Hence, the pelvic floor can fall. 

Women with prolapsed pelvic floor muscles may spill urine when they sneeze, cough, or laugh. Also, women who deliver large babies are at the most risk, and thus the Kegel exercises are advised to them after delivery.

8. Increase in Foot Size 

A recent study of pregnant women's feet found that from early pregnancy to five months after giving birth, arch height and rigidity drastically decrease, causing permanent increases in foot length.

However, pregnancy may result in larger shoe sizes due to weight gain and hormonal changes. Your foot arch may get flattened with added weight. You may also be familiar with the hormone relaxin. This hormone softens the ligaments and bones in your pelvis to prepare for delivery.

It also soothes your joints and ligaments and causes your feet to flatten and spread out. So these modifications to your feet are permanent.

9. Abdominal Partition

Abdominal separation is a very standard and permanent transformation in pregnancy. It is a partial or entire separation of the muscles at the midline of the abdomen called the rectus abdominis. 

It happens in almost two-thirds of all pregnant females. However, the extent differs. This condition does not resolve spontaneously but can stay for years.

10. Too Much Farting

A report claims that the pelvic pudendal nerve can be hurt after childbirth, causing fatal incontinence or the inability to regulate farts. When one has fatal incontinence, some stools may be lost. About 15% of women have at least one episode of this within a year of childbirth.

11. Brain changes 

Women’s brains also modify physically after giving delivery. Investigators discovered that mothers’ brains have minor grey matter than their non-mother companions. 

Grey matter is primarily situated in the outer layers of the brain. It is diligently concerned with high-level roles such as seeing, hearing, feeling, remembering, and making decisions. 

The shrinkage was still transparent two years after delivery, indicating that childbirth might result in permanent transformations of the brain.

Conclusion

It is improbable that you would suffer all of these long-lasting changes to your body after giving birth. However, now that you have a baby, you are aware that other people experience the same things, whether it be a change in how your shoes fit or a slight cough leak. So do not worry too much. 

Further, if you need more information regarding this context, talk to our Gynecologist and Fertility Professional, Dr. Shesha Sinha. Also, share your views on this blog with Antenate by commenting.