Just as a woman's body undergoes various changes during pregnancy and after giving birth, many women often notice significant facial changes, too. In addition to the requisite "puffiness" resulting from water retention and weight gain, many women experience new symptoms, such as acne, dryness and discoloration.

Julie Archer of Alexandria, Va., experienced no abnormal skin conditions until she was pregnant with her third child. During that pregnancy, she noticed an increase in varicose veins. "This was new to me and I guess I was lucky not to see any changes in the appearance of my skin with my first two kids," Archer says. "Of course, I got stretch marks, but those are expected."

According to Dr. Fredric Brandt, of Coral Gables, Fla., women suffer everything from acne breakouts to rashes to enlarged pores and broken capillaries during pregnancy. Additional conditions include melasma (brown spots); seborrhea (red, itchy patches around nose and scalp area); rosacea (redness to the cheek areas); and keratosis pilaris, or bumps on the back of the arms. To ease these symptoms, he recommends topical antibiotics and body and facial moisturizers.

"During pregnancy women should follow a good skin care regimen such as a gentle cleanser, a hydrating moisturizer and a good sunscreen with parsol and titanium dioxide," Dr. Brandt says. He suggests using the Lineless Cream, which is a product he created that uses a blend of green tea and grapeseed extracts to moisturize and minimize wrinkles.

"Known for its potent anti-inflammatory properties, green tea extract is also 20 times more antioxidant powerful than vitamin C and provides superior protection from free radical damage," Dr. Brandt says. "Grapeseed extract works in tandem with green tea to increase intracellular levels of vitamin C and decrease the destruction of collagen."

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