Is It Bad To Touch Your Belly Button While Pregnant?
Can poking your belly hurt the baby? If you are a first-time mom or someone who’s generally curious about pregnant bellies you might have thought about this once in your life.
Strangely, most pregnant women and even people around them can’t keep their hands off the growing baby bumps. For mothers, it can be calming and soothing and for others, it is a way to connect with the baby. Whatever the case might be if you want to know more about pregnancy and belly buttons then keep on reading!
There are so many myths about pregnancy and this is one of them. You don’t have to be scared to poke or touch your belly button during pregnancy. This post will clear all your doubts and tell you everything you should know about your belly button during pregnancy.
What changes in the belly button during early pregnancy?
Pregnancy is a beautiful journey in which the body goes through a transition. Your
whole body changes from the inside out. However, the most visible sign of pregnancy is an expanding belly, as your uterus pushes up and out to make some room for your growing baby. These are a few changes that you will observe in your pregnancy.
Belly Button popping out
If you are at the beginning of this journey, most likely you have noticed some changes in your belly. Women usually notice the changes in their navel around the second trimester of pregnancy. The abdomen moves forward, and your belly button pops out. Even if your belly button was inwards all of your life, during pregnancy the expansion of your abdomen can cause it to come out. It is normal and doesn’t cause any harm, though it can be irritating for some women, especially when you wear fitted clothes there are ways you can hide it. A belly button cover made from pure cotton or a tummy sleeve can help you hide that ‘outie’. The belly button returns to a relatively normal position after a few months of delivery.
Umbilical Hernia
Very rarely it is observed that the belly button popping out during pregnancy is an indicator of an umbilical hernia. Although it hardly occurs it is important to know belly how your button changes during early pregnancy. An umbilical hernia is a small hole that occurs when part of your intestine bulges through the opening in your abdominal muscles near your belly button. It is harmless but sometimes can be discomforting.
If you observe any of these symptoms then you must see your gynecologist to make sure your hernia hasn’t blocked your intestines.
- The constant increase in pain intensity near the navel
- Hernia bulge that is sticking out and can’t be pushed back in
- Nausea and vomiting at the same time as a painful hernia bulge that’s red and tender to the touch
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Pain in the belly button during pregnancy
All pregnancies are not easygoing and painless, there are times when you feel tired, and drained on top of that if you feel pain in your belly button it adds to the discomfort. There are several reasons why your belly button might be painful.
Friction
It is common for the belly button while pregnant to pop out. It can get irritated and itchy when it is rubbed against your clothes. If you want to prevent that, use a tummy sleeve that will protect your belly button from showing and getting irritated.
Umbilical Hernia
As discussed above, an umbilical hernia can cause pain during pregnancy. The severity of the case can cause the hernia to become more painful.
Belly button piercing
Piercing that is done close to the belly button can turn out to be painful during pregnancy. As the bump grows, the skin will stretch, and there are a lot of chances that it gets irritated. It’s better to remove it if the redness doesn’t soothe down.
Stretching
The shift in hormones can make your skin dry and itchy. The stretch of scar tissue that might be attached to the belly button if you ever had surgery previously can cause some pain.
Will my belly button go back to normal after pregnancy?
Your straight and prominent belly button won’t be like this a few months after you deliver your baby, congratulations on both!
Many new moms have seen that their belly button flattens once the baby is out, though it might not go back to its original shape. If you develop an umbilical hernia which happens on rare occasions, the belly button stays an outie. Although hernias usually shrink after pregnancy in a few cases they may require surgery.
