Rashes in pregnancy

The hormonal, physiological and physical changes that occur during pregnancy can lead to a number of skin conditions being exacerbated, occurring for the first time or appearing in an altered form. In addition to this, there are a number of systemic infections in which skin symptoms or rash may be the presenting complaint. It is important to be able to distinguish between those rashes which represent potential complications for the pregnant woman and developing foetus and those which do not. Where the diagnosis is unclear, it is useful to have a management strategy to exclude serious causes.