How to stop body odour during pregnancy & after childbirth?
You are pregnant or just delivered your baby! You are doing everything correctly, taking a shower every day and eating healthy yet your body odour is getting worse. There is a biological reason behind this change in body odour. Your body odour helps you bond with your newborn. Babies have a fully developed sense of smell. They use this ability to identify you and guide themselves to your breasts to feed.
Hormonal changes that happen during pregnancy are unique. There will be a sudden increase in estrogen and progesterone. These changes make the apocrine sweat much greasier. Apocrine glands are found in the underarms, breasts, nipples, anal and vaginal regions. Besides the hormonal changes, you are also working hard by carrying more weight. As a result, your body is producing more heat than usual. This naturally makes you sweat more as your body needs to cool itself. When bacteria on the surface of your skin come in contact with this sweat, they feast on the proteins, fatty acids and sulphur present in the sweat resulting in body odour. You can easily bring this situation under control and here are some useful tips for you,
Tips to reduce body odour during or after pregnancy
- Take a shower every day and apply an unscented hypoallergenic deodorant like Super Deodorant. A specialty natural deodorant such as this will help manage a healthy microbiome without changing the nature of your skin. A good shower not only makes you feel clean, it also helps you feel fresh by cooling down your overworked body.
- Shave off your armpit hair. Hair traps sweat and sweat contains proteins, fatty acids and sulphur that are essential for bacteria to thrive.
- Avoid food rich in sulphur like red meat, spices such as cumin and cruciferous vegetables.
- Avoid alcohol and drink a lot of water.
Your body odour can be an indicator of your overall health. If none of the tips mentioned above offers relief, it could be due to an underlying illness and you must seek professional help.