can pregnancy cause acne?

Over 40% of pregnant patients get acne. It's more common in women who had acne before pregnancy, but it can develop in any pregnant patient. Acne occurs when skin pores become clogged with bacteria, oil, or dead skin cells.

Acne can be a common — yet oh-so annoying! — side effect of growing a baby.

It’s not guaranteed that your face will break out during pregnancy, but there’s a good chance that zits or splotches will strike even if you’ve never been plagued by pimples before.

The breakouts, which tend to hit sometime around week 6 of pregnancy, have to do with hormone surges, of course. Specifically, progesterone causes your glands secrete more oil, called sebum.

All that extra sebum can clog up pores and cause bacteria to build up, leading to breakouts.

Lifestyle changes are your best bet these days. Many of the conventional treatments used to get rid of acne are off limits during pregnancy.

So instead, focus first on taking care of your skin — and of yourself overall. Some complexion-clearing strategies that help:

Many of the creams and meds that are typically used to zap zits contain ingredients that could potentially harm your growing baby, so you’ll want to steer clear. Acne products to avoid during pregnancy include:

Topical salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide, two chemicals found in a huge range of skin care and drugstore products, are generally okay to use in small amounts during pregnancy, according to American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) as well as the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD).

However, not all experts consider them safe for expecting women. If you’re considering using a product containing one of these ingredients, talk with your doctor first.

Probably not. While one very, very small study tied worse pregnancy acne to having a girl, much more research is needed before experts can say if those pimples are related to your baby’s sex.

Still want to play the guessing game? These other pregnancy symptoms might be just a little bit more reliable.

It would be nice if those pesky pimples went poof the moment your baby was placed into your arms. While pregnancy acne does eventually get better as your hormones return to their pre-pregnancy state, it doesn’t always happen overnight.

In some cases, postpartum hormonal fluctuations paired with sleep deprivation and the stress of caring for a newborn can be yet another acne trigger.

Try to stick with the same healthy skin care habits you had during pregnancy (easier said than done, we know). And ask your doctor about the acne treatments that were off-limits during your pregnancy. Even if you’re breastfeeding, some topical treatments may now be okay.

Hormonal birth control may help too. If the pill had helped keep your acne in check before becoming pregnant, you’ll likely notice an improvement in your skin once you start taking it again.

Keep in mind, though, that the mini-pill — a progestin-only birth control pill often recommended for breastfeeding moms — won’t help acne and can actually make it worse.