Everyone talks about pregnant women having a glow and that was something that I was looking forward to when I became pregnant with my first son.  However, what I soon discovered is that instead of the pregnancy glow, I experienced a very different “joy” of pregnancy…pregnancy acne!

Acne During Pregnancy Is Common

After talking to many of my friends who were, or who had been pregnant, I learned that many pregnant women are bothered by sudden flare-ups of acne during pregnancy, even if their skin had been clear for years. It seemed that, as well as many other changes in my body that will occur during pregnancy, I could expect changes in my skin as well. After the initial frustration at these changes, I learned from my doctor that most cases of acne during pregnancy are triggered by the huge hormonal fluctuations that occur within the body during pregnancy and, while this was not exactly great news to me and my pregnant friends, the fact that pregnancy acne usually disappears after delivery was a comfort. Many of us hadn’t had to worry about acne since our teens or early twenties so thinking about acne was yet another of the things we would have to deal with during our pregnancies…along with our expanding waistlines and our swollen feet!

Solutions for Pregnancy Acne

Since we were experiencing this unexpected aspect of pregnancy together, we decided to solve it together!  We read articles and talked to our doctors and it seemed that we all came back with the same information.  As always, common sense is usually the best approach and so good basic skin helps keep the skin healthy even during the breakouts of pregnancy acne and washing our faces morning and night with a gentle cleanser was fairly simple to do, even while pregnant! Also, avoiding toners or astringents is a good idea because we learned that our skin might more sensitive during pregnancy. And, because any form of acne is often the result of the skin producing excess oil to compensate for dryness, we found that using a light moisturizing cream would help with that.

For some of us, this routine was enough to keep our pregnancy acne in check.  But, for some whose acne was worsening as their pregnancy progressed, or those who had been battling acne since before pregnancy, an acne treatment medication was necessary. The most important thing we learned is that, for the health of our developing babies, we needed be very careful when selecting acne products. While many acne treatments are safe for pregnant women (including Benzoyl Peroxide, Salicylic acid and Erythromycin), certain acne medications should never be used by pregnant mothers because they can harm a developing fetus. In particular, we learned that the treatments that must be avoided during pregnancy include: Accutane and Topical retinoids (like Differin, Tazorac and Retin-A).  Also, Tetracycline (as well as its derivatives Doxycycline and Minocycline) should not be taken while pregnant.

Using Proactiv During Pregnancy

One of my pregnant friends, who had battled acne through most of her adulthood, suggested that we try Proactiv, a 3-step system that was developed by dermatologists and that both helps clear existing acne and prevent future breakouts.  She had been using Proactiv for years and it had worked really well at keeping her acne under control…so much so that none of us had even realized that she had an acne problem until we all came together to solve our pregnancy acne problem!  And, since the active ingredient in the Proactiv products is Benzoyl Peroxide, we thought it would be a good product for us to try.

Because I was already washing my face with a gentle cleanser and using a light moisturizer daily, substituting the Proactiv products was simple!  I was very happy with the products and noticed an improvement in my skin right away, as did most of my friends.  Even those of us who only experienced minor breakouts (as opposed to those with more extensive pregnancy acne) found that the Proactiv products made our skin look healthier.  It was comforting to know that I was not the only woman to have this problem and the fact that I had other women to talk to really helped a lot.  Plus, we all finally had that pregnancy glow that everyone talks about!