Patchy Rash on Your Face For the First Time In Pregnancy

Skin can be very changeable in pregnancy. Even the breastfeeding hormone prolactin begins to rise significantly only a few days after that first ultrasound sign of pregnancy. And each hormone can have an effect on multiple factors that affect the skin. Furthermore, many women completely ditch their skin routines in pregnancy because of lack of knowledge or information regarding the products they want to use. One condition that is very common in pregnancy is called Polymorphic eruption of pregnancy or puritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy. or "PUPP" that is probably the most common complaint regarding pregnant skin. It is a red and patchy rash with a fairly distinct appearance that your obstetrician probably can recognize. Sometimes it can appear to be something really weird and have target like lesions more characteristic of other rashes, but usually, just patches. It often will begin in a stretch mark, and it usually spreads. Oddly it usually spares the face, so that's probably not it. To figure out if this is just the melasma pigment changes that one sees from those high hormone levels you could have your face examined by a Wood's lamp. Allergic reactions and dry skin may also produce the red rashes of the face in pregnancy, and rosacea may be diagnosed for the first time as well.