Changes During Pregnancy   As we all know the baby begins to develope and mature, but what else happens? During Pregnancy hormone levels rise, the body starts pumping more blood, and the heart works overtime. The baby gets its food from the mother's blood, that's why the amount of blood in the mother almost doubles. The baby also sends its waste products out through the mother's blood. The uterus has to grow considerably in order to occupy the baby's need for space, in fact by the 36th week the uterus should be a little below the breast bone (where the ribs join together at the front of the chest). The breast also change. The hormones of pregnancy start preparing the breasts to produce milk and the increase considerably in size. They start making a substance called colostrum but do not produce milk until about two or three days after the baby is born. The pelvis also has to change a little. During pregnancy progesterone makes the ligaments softer and more stretchy, so that the pelvis can expand and let the baby through more easily. The skin changes as well. Pregnant women sometimes feel noticably warmer than usual, due to increase in the amount of blood passing through the blood vessels under t he skin. Most pregnant women also find that their moles and freckles, and the area aroung their nipples, become darker brown, and a dark line, the "linea nigra", appears down the middles of their abdomen. Occasionally, dark patches also appear on the face.   This is just a list of a few changes that happen! HOME