Of Hormones and Their Role in Pregnancy

You must have read about how hormones are monitoring different activities within your body. However, reading is one thing and feeling them working is altogether different. Now that you are pregnant, you must be feeling a lot of changes in your body. Some changes may make you a little uncomfortable such as morning sickness, bloating or gas. On the other hand, some hormonal changes give you happiness and bring an impromptu smile on your glowing face. We will discuss more about these pregnancy hormones whose good and bad effects will be testing and blessing you in the forthcoming nine months or so. 

Luteinizing Hormone (LH) And Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH): These hormones are inactive during pregnancy but they are the real game changers. They are secreted by the pituitary gland in your brain. They act in your early life to mature ovaries and take care of your menstruation every month.

To start with, FSH stimulates the egg follicles and induces them to secrete estrogen. This estrogen stops the further secretion of FSH. It sets off the blast of LH hormone which causes follicles to release the egg. The remnants of the ovarian follicle body now turn into corpus luteum and secrete progesterone. Progesterone inhibits the further secretion of LH.

These two hormones- estrogen and progesterone are bringing all the changes you are experiencing. The egg makes its way down to the uterus and if it finds its match of sperm, the pregnancy commences.

Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG): As soon as the egg is fertilized by sperm, the embryo starts growing. The cell that surrounds this embryo starts producing HCG after 7-9 days of fertilization. You get the “good news” due to this HCG. This hormone ensures that corpus luteum continues secreting progesterone throughout the first trimester. Further, it also helps in lining the uterus for implanting the embryo.

Estrogen and Progesterone: These two hormones can be regarded as the main pregnancy hormones. You will produce these hormones more than you ever do in your entire life. Estrogen helps in supporting the development of the baby, supports the transfer of nutrients to the baby and causes the uterus and placenta to improve its vascularization. Estrogen is at its peak during third trimester. You can attribute the nausea and vomiting to this hormone during the first trimester.

On the other hand, progesterone helps in loosening the joints and ligaments in the body which then help in delivery. It also prepares your uterus to be big enough to accommodate your baby.

Here are some of the changes that you may be experiencing due to these hormones in your body.

·         As your ligaments are loose, you are at higher risk of knee sprains and ankle injuries during exercise.

·         Weight gain during pregnancy slows down the circulation of blood and body fluids which then cause swelling in your legs, feet, hands and face.

·         Changing hormonal conditions brings considerable changes in hair growth of the body and the head (excessive shedding or growth & thickening).

·         You may notice several considerable changes in your body like darkening of the areola, darkening of the skin around nipples, tenderness and sensitivity of breasts, protrusion of nipple, and so on. Hormones bring about these changes to prepare you for breastfeeding.

·         Hormones change your taste buds as well. You will start liking sour instead of sweet or vice versa or may prefer/hate some other tastes.

·         During pregnancy, it may be possible that you start hating the pungent smell of garlic and onion. This is because, hormonal change in your body increases smell sensitivity.

·         Not only taste and smell, these hormones can take a toll on your beauty as well. Some women experience the darkening of skin on all parts of the body. It is considered as the mask of pregnancy or melasma. It generally resolves after pregnancy. On the other hand, some permanent skin changes like stretch marks are also partly due to the hormonal effects on your skin’s elasticity. Apart from this, some may also experience changes like moles, freckles, boils or rashes.

·         Nausea, vomiting, and tiredness during early morning hours or throughout the day are due to surging levels of HCG in the first trimester. Generally, the level of HCG starts subsiding after the first trimester and the same is with the morning sickness too. Further, if you are catching every flu or cold of the season, it is due to the HCG hormone. This hormone weakens your immune system.

With the above information, it must be clear that all changes occurring in your body are due to the changing hormonal conditions. However, you must not consider every change in your body as a pregnancy effect. Anything unusual or any uncomfortable situation must be brought to the doctor’s attention immediately.

Besides this, our only piece of advice is to attend your prenatal tests on time, eat fresh and healthy foods, drink lots of water and stay happy & positive.

Happy Pregnancy to you!