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Natural Remedy for Preventing Stretch Marks During Pregnancy

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Stretch marks are a relatively common trademark of pregnancy.

In fact, up to 90% of women get stretch marks at some point during pregnancy (source).

Knowing that, I still wanted to do everything I could to prevent them, so I came up with my own personal approach to ward off this hallmark sign of pregnancy.

When it comes down to it, though, my “strategy” was pretty simple and could apply to keeping your skin healthy whether pregnant or not.

Just like I wanted to stay as healthy as I could throughout the pregnancy, I wanted to do the same with my skin.

So, if you want to keep your skin looking and feeling its best, give these a try!

Preventing stretch marks during pregnancy

1. Stay hydrated

Keeping your body hydrated is one of the best ways to keep your skin healthy as well.

And, if you’ve heard it once during pregnancy, you’ve heard it about a zillion times– Drink more water.

Isn’t that the remedy for 90% of pregnancy ailments?

Well-hydrated skin is better able to handle stretching, so drink up! I tried to drink at least 100 ounces every day.

Bonus tip: Keeping a reusable water bottle with you will help you stay on track with your water intake.

2. Apply external moisturizers

Applying external moisturizers are another great way to promote your skin’s elasticity.

I already used coconut oil on my skin after showering daily, so I just added applying the oil to my tummy, too, as soon as we found at we were expecting.

I kept this up for the first 7 months of pregnancy and then switched to an alternative natural skin remedy recipe that our birth instructor shared with us (I’ve shared the exact recipe below).

There are also endless moisturizers available to purchase if you decide not to go the DIY route.

3. Strive for healthy weight gain

Another factor that contributes to stretch marks during pregnancy is weight gain.

So, it goes without saying that maintaining a relatively steady level of weight gain can also help with preventing stretch marks.

Now, everyone’s body responds differently to pregnancy, so you can’t necessarily completely control your weight gain.

However, by eating well and exercising regularly, you can better regulate your weight gain.

I didn’t work out heavily throughout my pregnancies, but I made sure to walk several times a week. This one habit alone seemed to really help me control how much weight I gained throughout the entire pregnancy.

My DIY natural stretch mark remedy

Now, I’ll just throw this out there. This treatment looks gross, but it seems to work, so give it a try.

If you don’t like it, you can always switch back to something else.

Just another FYI, I was told that it is also safe for use to promote elastic of skin elsewhere too. So feel free to apply it to your “nether regions” to assist in natural birth when the time comes.

  • Prep time: 5 mins
  • Total time: 5 mins

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup aloe vera gel
  • 1 cup virgin olive oil
  • 4 capsules vitamin A oil
  • 6 capsules vitamin E oil

Instructions:

  • Place all ingredients in a blender and mix until well blended.
  • Store mixture in an airtight container in the fridge.
  • Apply at least once daily.

Depending on your genetics, sometimes you will get a few stretch marks no matter what you do. Your body goes through a lot during pregnancy (literally grows an entire human being from scratch).

If you do gain a few new ones? Just know that it’s not the end of the world. Stretch marks fade over time.

Besides, pregnant women are not the only people in the world that get stretch marks. Plenty of men get them also. And most people don’t care about them as much as we think they do.