Postpartum Skin Changes: The Unexpected Side of Motherhood

Pregnancy changed my skin in ways I didn’t expect. Seven months postpartum, I’m still getting to know it. I’ve dealt with acne since my teenage years, so I’m no stranger to skin troubles, but pregnancy brought a few new experiences to the table. Now, as I navigate motherhood, I’m learning to care for my skin while also reconsidering what beauty means to me.

My Skin Before Pregnancy

Before pregnancy, my skin wasn’t always perfect. I’ve dealt with acne since I was a teenager, and I’m guilty of picking at my face, which has left me working to heal acne scars and uneven skin texture. I’ve always had combination skin, too. I’m oilier in the summer and so dry in the winter. Seriously, everything from my hands and legs to my face gets dry, and the eczema behind my ears tends to flare up the most during the colder months.

I’ve always been interested in skincare, but I like to keep my routine simple enough to maintain. Before pregnancy, I washed my face and moisturized. That’s it! I also loved products containing salicylic acid.

For a few years before becoming pregnant, I’d finally settled into a routine that worked well for me. My breakouts had cleared up, and my skin tone was relatively even. I felt good about my complexion, so I wasn’t expecting it to change quite so much.

The Skin Changes I Experienced During Pregnancy

Throughout my pregnancy, my skin became incredibly oily. This was especially surprising because I was pregnant through most of the winter, when my skin would normally be at its driest.

I wondered whether my prenatal vitamins and the omega-3s in my diet might have contributed to the change. My skin felt supple, but the oiliness was something else!

Then there was the back acne. Ugh. It was honestly so bad, and it stuck around throughout my entire pregnancy. Thankfully, the breakouts disappeared after I gave birth, but I’m still dealing with the scars they left behind. They’re slowly healing, alhamdulillah.

I also developed keratosis on my arms, which was something I’d never experienced before. It wasn’t as bothersome as the back acne, but it was another unexpected change to add to the list.

My skin also felt more sensitive to the sun. I noticed the sunlight more intensely on my face, so I was grateful that I’d already made sunscreen part of my routine.

I suppose I was open to experiencing all kinds of changes during pregnancy. I’d heard about the different ways pregnancy could affect your skin, and I felt fortunate that I hadn’t experienced some of the more noticeable changes, such as melasma. Still, the oiliness and persistent back acne caught me off guard.

On the bright side, my entire body was so oily that I didn’t need to use hair conditioner. And seven months postpartum, I still haven’t really needed it!

My Postpartum Skin Changes at Seven Months

Seven months after giving birth, some things have improved while others have stuck around. The back acne is gone, and the scarring is gradually clearing. My keratosis, however, is still here.

My skincare routine has also changed. Before motherhood, I usually took care of my skin twice a day. Now, most days, I only manage it once. When I’m going out or wearing makeup, I’m more intentional about doing my routine both morning and night.

Even though I’m busier, my curiosity about skincare hasn’t disappeared. I still enjoy trying different products, and I’ve recently added an oil cleanser to my routine.

Caring for my skin is one of the parts of my hygiene that I continue to prioritize. I treat my skin conditions as health concerns, not simply cosmetic inconveniences. Acne, eczema, and keratosis can all require attention, and I want to take care of my skin as best I can.

The tricky part is figuring out what that care looks like while breastfeeding. The topical medication I have for my keratosis is quite strong, and with a baby who is constantly climbing on me, touching me, and putting his mouth on just about everything, I’m cautious about exposing him to it. As a result, keeping the skin on my body hydrated and treating my keratosis can be difficult on some days. My facial skincare routine, on the other hand, remains a priority.

I’m still figuring out what works for me in this season of motherhood, and I imagine that will continue to change.

How Motherhood Is Changing My Relationship With Beauty

I’ll be honest: I haven’t completely adjusted to all the changes in my appearance.

I’ve gained weight during pregnancy and am still around 30 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight. I don’t always feel comfortable in my clothes or in pictures. I also have a follicular cyst on my face that has gradually grown larger. I’ve had it evaluated, and thankfully, it isn’t cancerous. I plan to have it removed because, at this point, it looks like a giant pimple that I can’t do anything about!

Between that and my skin taking longer to heal, I sometimes feel less attractive than I used to.

At the same time, I’ve been learning how to elevate my personal style so I can feel more put together. I’m still interested in beauty and skincare, and I still want to feel good about how I look. I don’t think those things have to disappear just because I’m a mother.

But motherhood has made me think about beauty in a way I hadn’t really considered before.

Of course, I feel some pressure to get back to my pre-pregnancy appearance. It’s hard not to when so much of the world seems to expect women to bounce back. But I’m also learning that I don’t want my children to grow up watching me fixate on every perceived flaw or speak harshly about myself.

More than anything, I want them to remember me as happy, smiling, and calm. I want them to see that I took care of myself as best I could, even when I was tired, my body was changing, and my skin wasn’t behaving the way I wanted it to.

I’d rather my children remember a mother who was kind to herself than one who spent so much time criticizing her appearance that she forgot to enjoy her life.

Finding Beauty Beyond My Postpartum Skin Changes

I’m still learning to navigate these postpartum skin changes, and I don’t have a neat conclusion about them just yet. My skin is still healing, my body is still changing, and I’m still figuring out how to care for myself in a way that works for my life now.

But I think I’m beginning to understand something about beauty.

Beauty is truly felt rather than seen.

We live in a world that constantly markets a particular standard of beauty to us. It’s easy to believe that if we don’t fit that standard, we’ve somehow fallen short. I still have moments when I feel that way about myself. I’m not pretending I’ve moved beyond those feelings entirely.

But a person can be beautiful in ways that have very little to do with their complexion, their weight, or how well their clothes fit.

There’s beauty in the way someone makes their family feel safe. There’s beauty in a home filled with warmth and laughter, in a mother who takes a deep breath when the day becomes overwhelming, and in someone who continues to care for herself without making her appearance the measure of her worth.

I want my children to grow up understanding that beauty isn’t limited to what they see in the mirror. I want them to recognize it in the people they love, in the way they treat others, and in the goodness they bring into the spaces they occupy.

So, yes, I’m still working on my skin. I’m still learning what my body needs, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hope some of these changes would eventually improve.

But I’m also learning to give myself some grace along the way.

If motherhood has taught me anything about beauty so far, it’s that I don’t need to look perfect to bring beauty into my home. And that is a lesson I hope my children will carry with them, too.