During pregnancy over half of women will develop stretch marks. Otherwise known as striae gravidarum, stretch marks appear like streaks on the skins surface, and may be vary in color depending on your natural skin color. For example lighter skinned women develop pinkish stretch marks, while darker skinned women tend to have stretch marks that are lighter than the surrounding skin. Stretch marks can develop on the buttocks, hips, breasts and thighs although effect most women on their abdomen.

The causes of Stretch Marks

Stretch marks form when your skin is stretched rapidly as it does during pregnancy. Women tend to develop stretch marks during the later trimesters of pregnancy though some women start to develop them as soon as their bellies start growing.

The skin tissue that supports the skin and helps it to stretch tears and this is how stretch marks are formed. It is a sign of separation of collagen from the skin after tearing. Stretch marks aren't harmful or painful and tend to fade over time.

Many women are under the impression that using lotions and creams help prevent stretch marks on their pregnant belly. But the number of stretch marks you actually get depends on how elastic your skin is. Genetics plays the major role on how elsastic your skin is. Find out whether your mother got stretch marks during pregnancy and if so you are more likely to suffer too.

Additionally the more weight you gain during your term the more you will get stretch marks. Typically skin is elastic and can stretch quite a lot, but changes that occur in pregnant women can be very drastic. These rapid fluctuations of weight combined with skin stretching can result in stretch marks.

Women who are expecting more than one bundle of joy, tend to grow larger and thus are more likely to get stretch marks. Women carrying big babies or gain lots of weight during their pregnancy are more likely to get stretch marks unfortunately. Stretch Mark Prevention

The top thing to do to minimize the risk aside from using any stretch mark cream select is gaining the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy. Its recommended to gain between 25 to 34 pounds. If much more than this is gained you are likely to get stretch marks.

Stretch marks can be overlooked by most women considering the miracle of life they bring into the world. For most women the small annoyance even the nastiest stretch marks are well worth the joys of bringing a newborn baby into the world. Try not to gain too much weight during pregnancy but don't worry too much about stretch marks. Most women wear them with pride, a 'war wound' or 'badge of honor' for their pregnancy.