Sunday, July 12, 2009

Tattoo and Pregnancy


Alright the reason I bring this up is because my husband and I are toying around with the idea of trying to have a baby in a year or so. So that got me thinking, are there any risks or anything else I should know about regarding tattoos and pregnancy.

First and foremost I have found out that if for some ridiculous reason you want to get a new tattoo while you are pregnant you will more than likely have a hard time finding a tattoo artist that will actually do it. There isn’t really any rules or laws pertaining to pregnant women getting a tattoo but most artist feel it isn’t worth the risk and that you should wait until after the baby is born to get your tattoo.

Also another interesting thing I found out is that there is some kind of myth going around that if you have a back tattoo that you can not get an epidural. There have only been a few studies conducted on this matter and of those studies nothing conclusively found any data that shows that there are risks, so most anesthesiologists have no problem giving an epidural to a woman with a back tattoo. But just in case you are worried about this you should contact your local hospital or doctor and see what they say. I know someone you has a tattoo on her lower back and she had an epidural without any problems so I don’t really see what the fuss is about.

Alright I know I covered this yesterday but since I am on the topic of tattoos and pregnancy I thought this would be as good of time as any to talk more about tattoos on the stomach. I mean we all know what happens to your stomach when you get pregnant. It stretches and gets really big, so naturally your tattoo is going to stretch and get bigger as well. The one question I want to know is….will your tattoo go back down to regular size after you have had the baby and lost all the baby weight?

I have researched his topic and have found that it really depends on the person. It seems that different women have different results when it comes to their stomach tattoos. For instance, some say that after they have lost their baby weight the tattoo goes back to normal. While others say their tattoo faded a bit and stretched out a little. So I guess it really depends on how much weight you gain and how much your stomach stretches. But to be on the safe side when you are younger just try to refrain from getting a tattoo on your stomach or in any area that maybe affected if you become pregnant. However, if you find youself having a brain fart when getting a tattoo and get one on your stomach anyways, I have heard that some mothers keep their stomaches very moisturized and that seems to help with the stretching of the tattoo.