6 surprising ways your body changes after pregnancy

Pregnancy is beautiful and as soon as you know that you're having a baby, from that moment on you know that your life's about to change in many ways. While it is a wonderful experience, pregnancy can take a huge toll on a mother's body. As much as your body changes during the course of your pregnancy, it may develop as many alterations during the first year after childbirth. Having said that, here are some physical changes to watch out for the first few months or a year post-pregnancy.

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Once you deliver your baby, your breast may change in terms of shape and size.

Post-pregnancy, your estrogen and progesterone levels decrease considerably, while your prolactin, which is the hormone that helps you make breast milk, spikes. This can make your breasts even bigger than before. Changes start kicking in two or three days after giving birth and your breasts are likely to be hard and tender.

Additionally, your breast shape may change permanently, since the engorgement that occurs when breast milk comes in may loosen the ligaments in the chest, causing the breasts to sag.

Weight gain and hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy can also change the size of your shoes. Surprised?

According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), women who have a normal weight could gain 11 to 16 kilos during pregnancy. Therefore, the excess weight can cause a lot of pressure in the feet, causing it to flatten the arch of the foot.

Apart from that, a hormone called relaxin can relax the muscle ligaments in your feet. So, when the spike in body weight puts the pressure on the feet, it makes it easier to flatten or lengthen.

After giving birth to a child, changes in the vaginal area are bound to happen and shouldn't come as a surprise to many. Given the size of a newborn baby, women often have vaginal changes postpartum. Although the size of vagina almost contracts back to its original size, the UK's National Health Services (NHS) believes most women will have a wider vagina, permanently.

Due to the big increase and decrease in the body weight pre- and post-pregnancy respectively, women may develop pink and red stretch marks on their body, as per the British Journal of Dermatology. However, these marks may get lighter or unnoticeable over time.

Post-pregnancy, many new moms may see their sex drive fading away. As per experts, it can take up to a year to regain one's libido. This not only attributes to the low levels of estrogen in the body, but caring for a new born can also become exhaustive, leading to diminished sex drive.

Other post-pregnancy changes occur in the legs, face and hair.

Weight gain during pregnancy can lead to spider veins, also known as varicose veins post-pregnancy. These look similar to stretch marks, only that they're purple-bluish in colour and can become enlarged and cause obstructions to the blood flow.

As far as your skin is concerned, it may develop dry skin patches, acne or pigmentation. Thanks to the fluctuating hormone levels.

Lastly, you may also lose up to one third of your hair. High levels of hormone during pregnancy aids in hair growth. But as soon as your hormone levels drop back to normal, it could lead to loss of hair.