Pregnancy and Contact Lenses: Can They Really Mix?

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During pregnancy, a woman’s body evolves and transforms into a perfect life-growing vessel. Everything from the way hormones rapidly shift to the way nutrients are rerouted and more quickly depleted all occur as a means to support your baby’s growth and development. Naturally, this causes some complications for expectant mums’ daily lives. One of the most common ways this manifests is via vision problems, which BabyCenter estimates up to 14% of all pregnant women experience. 

Apart from blurred vision or shifts in distance clarity, some women experience discomfort with ocular medical devices, such as contact lenses. This poses a significant wide-scale issue, considering that nearly 7% of all Brits use soft contact lenses for vision correction. However, this doesn’t mean that just because you’re pregnant, you need to chuck your contacts in the bin. 

Pregnancy and contacts

So, why do some women think contact lenses and pregnancy can’t mix? First of all, there’s the fact that rapidly fluctuating hormones can result in chronic dry eyes. Because of this, contact lenses can feel more irritating, especially over longer periods of time. Next, there’s the matter of fluid retention. Just as this can cause your ankles to swell, it can do the same to your eyeballs. As a result, contact lenses may no longer fit comfortably on the eyes’ surface. 

Unfortunately, for some women, pregnancy also means developing certain health conditions that similarly influence vision and, by relation, how contact lenses work for a person. Chief among these are preeclampsia, eclampsia, and gestational diabetes. All three of these can affect vision in that some women with these experience photosensitivity, floaters, blurred eyesight, and auras. For contact lens users, this may make their current prescriptions inaccurate. Finally, it’s important to note that even heightened stress levels during pregnancy can impair how well contact works. In the UK, 1 in 10 women experience ante-natal depression. This comes from hormones and the continued physical strain that pregnancy brings. Stress can cause inflammation, which, in the eyes, can encourage further fluid build-up. As we discussed earlier, this can make it painful and ineffective to wear contacts. 

How to fit contacts into your pregnancy

Fortunately, there are ways to include contacts in your pregnancy. For women who are used to wearing contact lenses prior to getting pregnant, sticking to this routine can improve their mental health. Lots of expectant mums feel like they’re no longer themselves or they’re unattractive, so being able to retain old preferences and routines can be beneficial. Physically, maintaining good visual clarity thanks to contacts can also make pregnancy feel more comfortable. 

To do this, begin by looking into contacts that ensure eye moisture. To illustrate, retailer Lenstore offers daily contact lenses with special moisture-enhancing features. From brands like Alcon and ACUVUE, these contacts have technology that releases and seals in lubrication with every blink. This helps to directly address the dry eyes that many pregnant women struggle with. On top of this, you should also look into using pregnancy-safe eye drops. Since pregnancy can impair your immune system, having eye drops can help flush out any bacteria, dirt, and debris that can get caught in your lenses. Brands like Aqualube and PF Drops offer these drops across the UK from accessible stores like Boots. In closing, contact lenses are totally safe for pregnancy. Although some women may find them uncomfortable, with the right approach to lens care, these medical devices can remain highly effective and help you make your pregnancy more pleasant. For more on motherhood, please visit the rest of our blog

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