Sonya Kith, a mom from Minneapolis, Minn., describes PUPPP as "horrible" and "agonizing." PUPPP, which is short for pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy, is the most common rash that occurs in pregnancy, according to Amy Wechsler, a dermatologist in New York City. "No one knows what causes PUPPP, although there's a lot of speculation," she says. "Thankfully it's not dangerous or associated with anything dangerous, but it is exquisitely itchy."

Check out any online forum for pregnant women and you'll find some discussion of PUPPP and its agonizing symptoms. It's estimated that this itchy rash affects approximately 1 percent of pregnant women – usually those in their first pregnancies.

In Kith's case, her PUPPP was especially ironic because she's a product tester for skin and beauty products. "I didn't know anyone else who had had this so I was really on my own," says Kith. "It was horrible, probably one of the most agonizing things I've ever been through. All you can think about is scratching yourself. I did notice that it seemed to be worse where I had stretch marks."

In fact, extreme stretching of the skin is one possible reason considered to cause PUPPP, says Dr. Brenna Anderson, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. "About 75 percent of PUPPP occurs in first pregnancies and usually appears in the third trimester," says Dr. Anderson. "It's probably related to the stretching of the skin, possibly the stress on the skin is releasing some kind of chemical mediators that cause inflammation. It does tend to start in people's stretch marks, so that's another clue."

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