I’ve got some strange dark patches that have appeared on my face. What could they be?
Nearly all pregnant women will notice some changes in skin colouring, usually darkening from twelve weeks. This is due to the increase in hormones stimulating skin pigmentation. Dark skinned ladies will be affected more, similar to sun tanning. Certain areas of the body may be effected more, nipples, perineum (skin between the vagina and anus) and naval or areas that experience ‘friction rubbing’ i.e. inner thighs and armpits. The dark patches on your face are called ‘chloasma’ or ‘pregnancy mask’ and affects approximately half of pregnant women. It can be reduced or prevented by minimising sun exposure, using whitening or ‘blanching’ creams (making sure they are safe in pregnancy) and high factor sun creams. See: Turner, A. (2000) The mask of pregnancy: causes and treatment of chloasma. British journal of midwifery 8 (9): 594.
