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Written by
Stacy Miller
If you’re trying to conceive or are pregnant, you’ve probably heard about the integral role hormones play in the process. Along with regulating your menstrual cycle, reproductive hormones like estrogen and progesterone are responsible for ovulation and successful implantation. While all pregnancy hormones are important, estrogen is one of the key hormones in nurturing a healthy pregnancy and supporting fetal development. Learning the impact of estrogen levels during pregnancy will help you better understand your changing body and how hormone changes affect your growing baby. So, what does estrogen do during pregnancy? Keep reading to find out.
Estrogen is one of the most important sex hormones, impacting every part of the fertility process. During your menstrual cycle, estrogen levels influence LH production, which triggers ovulation. While progesterone is responsible for thickening the lining of the uterus, which is necessary for successful implantation, estrogen helps grow new blood vessels in the baby place or placenta and widen the uterine arteries during pregnancy. Estrogen in pregnancy is crucial for increasing antibody production and reducing inflammation in immune cells.
It’s not just your body that benefits from rising estrogen levels in pregnancy, but also the fetus. Your estrogen levels when pregnant are crucial for supporting fetal lung, liver, and endocrine gland growth. It also promotes blood vessel formation within the placenta and uterine blood flow, which aids in exchanging waste, nutrients, and gases between you and your baby. Estrogen function in pregnancy is vital for both you and your baby. Having normal levels of estrogen in early pregnancy, mid, and late pregnancy can help ensure everything progresses smoothly, but what should those levels be?
In pregnancy, estrogen levels by week can rise greatly. It’s important to note that your specific numbers are dependent on the lab you use and the sample of testing, since most labs provide their own reference ranges. That said, when it comes to estrogen pregnancy, trends can be helpful to determine if your levels are within the normal range.
This may sound complex, but estrogen is not a single hormone. It is a family of hormones: estrone, estradiol, estriol, and estetrol. Estrone is a weak form of estrogen, its levels increase after the final menstrual period, during postmenopause. Estradiol is the most active estrogen during the reproductive years. Estriol is the form that increases during pregnancy. Estetrol is a form of estrogen produced during pregnancy by the fetal liver.
Your estrogen levels during pregnancy week by week will skyrocket, starting in the first trimester. Estriol can first be detected at 9 weeks gestation. Pregnancy estrogen levels, specifically estradiol, typically range from 188 to 2,497 pg/mL in the first thirteen weeks. When it comes to estrogen early pregnancy offers the first glimpse of how quickly hormone levels can rise.
If you’re wondering, “When does estrogen increase in pregnancy?” the second trimester is when you’ll see the sharpest rise. During this time, estradiol levels can range from 1,278 to 7,192 pg/mL. Weeks 14 to 27 are a great example of what happens to estrogen during pregnancy. These hormone levels rise dramatically to support the growing pregnancy and aid in fetal development. So, yes, estrogen is high during pregnancy, especially during the second trimester.
Now that we’ve answered the question, “Does estrogen rise during pregnancy?” for the first and second trimesters, it’s time to get into the third and final trimester. Where estrogen levels rise sharply in weeks 1 to 27, they reach their peak in weeks 28 through 40. This peak occurs due to the placenta taking over both progesterone and estrogen production. These higher levels are necessary for supporting fetal development, prepping your body for labor and delivery, and stimulating milk gland development.
Answering, “Does estrogen rise when pregnant,” gives you deeper insights into what’s happening in your body, but you’re probably wondering what symptoms it can cause. Growing a new human isn’t easy, but how do you differentiate which symptoms are from hormones like progesterone and HCG and which is an effect of estrogen during pregnancy? The truth is that it’s hard to separate symptoms from other pregnancy hormones from those that are estrogen-specific. When it comes to estrogen levels pregnancy symptoms can vary from woman to woman. Here are a few of the most common.
Between 70% and 80% of pregnant women will experience some form of nausea, which could be blinked to high human chorionic gonadotropin levels. However, high estrogen pregnancy is unlikely to make you feel nauseous.
Pregnancy hormones have a direct impact on your breast tissue, as your milk ducts enlarge in preparation for breastfeeding. What does estrogen do in pregnancy? It can definitely increase your cup size, especially toward the end of your third trimester.
One of the most common complaints among pregnant women is swelling of the feet, legs, and ankles. As estrogen levels rise, you may start retaining water, causing swelling in your extremities. So, does estrogen rise during pregnancy? Yes, and it could cause uncomfortable swelling as a result.
It wouldn’t be an article discussing the question, “Are estrogen levels high during pregnancy?” if we didn’t address hyperpigmentation. Up to 90% of women can see skin darkening in their genitals, armpits, and nipples. Melasma, or “pregnancy mask,” can also affect about 70% of women. It causes dark patches on the face, often on the upper lip, forehead, and cheeks. Although high estrogen levels may play a role, the exact cause of melasma remains unknown.
Does pregnancy increase estrogen? Yes, and with it, you may also see the emergence of spider veins. These threadlike, purple veins are harmless and generally fade a few months after you give birth. However, spider veins are caused by increased blood volume from a growing baby, not by estrogen levels themselves.
While you know estrogen levels can rise when you become pregnant, does estrogen decrease during pregnancy, too? In a healthy pregnancy, estrogen levels shouldn’t fall; they should climb steadily. If you have low estrogen prior to pregnancy, it could make it harder to become pregnant; if these low levels continue, it increases your chances of miscarriage. If your estrogen is low during pregnancy, you’re also at an increased risk of developing high blood pressure, known as preeclampsia. So, to answer the question, “Does estrogen drop during pregnancy? No, in a healthy pregnancy, your estrogen levels should only rise.
If your estrogen hormone levels are low, you may wonder can you take estrogen while pregnant? And the answer is it is not safe to decide on your own whether you need estrogen when your lab result is borderline or low for your gestational week. Depending on the circumstances, however, your doctor may prescribe it, especially in the case of an IVF pregnancy. While there’s no way to balance your hormones during pregnancy, you can nourish your body to support your growing baby and avoid things that aren’t safe for either of you.
Ensuring you get enough vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats will give you and your growing baby the nourishment you need to thrive. Additionally, try to avoid processed, fried, and fatty foods.
Your body has an increased need for water during pregnancy, so it’s extremely important to stay hydrated. Try to get 8 to 12 cups (64 to 96 ounces) per day.
While staying active gets a bit more challenging as your pregnancy progresses, it can actually help ease some of your symptoms, like swelling. You don’t have to run a marathon (and you definitely shouldn’t try if you didn’t train pre-pregnancy,) but enjoying a walk, hike, or swimming is an excellent option.
You should avoid excessive caffeine during pregnancy, staying under 200mg or one 8-ounce cup per day. Drinking too much caffeine during pregnancy is thought to cause a low birth rate or even miscarriage, but more research is needed.
Typically, when it comes to hormone levels in pregnancy, your doctor will order a hormone measurement test if they believe something is wrong. Although there are at-home tests to determine if estrogen and progesterone levels are rising, they’re more likely used to confirm pregnancy, while professional testing is preferred for suspected hormone-related issues. For normal pregnancies without complications, no routine hormone measurement test is performed.
Understanding how pregnancy affects your estrogen levels can help you better understand the changes happening to your body. Hormona is proud to offer the Hormona app, the award-winning hormone tracker that gives you the insights and tools to better understand your body.
Some studies suggest that estrogen levels may be a bit higher when you’re carrying a girl than when you’re carrying a boy. However, there’s no solid proof that estrogen is always higher when you’re carrying a girl.
If your estrogen levels are too low in pregnancy, it could result in miscarriage or high blood pressure, known as preeclampsia.
Because there are numerous pregnancy hormones, it’s hard to pinpoint how estrogen, in particular, makes you feel during pregnancy. However, it could be partially responsible for feeling nauseous, hyperpigmentation, swelling of the feet, legs, and ankles, spider veins, and swollen breasts.
No, higher estrogen levels are not necessarily an indication of being more fertile.
No. If you’re ovulating, high estrogen levels in the middle of your cycle can indicate that ovulation is about to occur.
If you’re not ovulating due to PCOS and your levels of estrogens are high, this may lead to heavier periods. However, it is not your estrogen levels that affect your chances of getting pregnant, but the lack of ovulation due to PCOS.
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Dr Singh is the Medical Director of the Indiana Sleep Center. His research and clinical practice focuses on the myriad of sleep.
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