Beginning your journey into parenthood is an exciting time. Whether you and your partner are just thinking about starting a family or you’re already pregnant, you’re probably experiencing a variety of emotions.

For women with vitiligo, pregnancy can come with additional concerns. You may be worried about whether pregnancy will affect your vitiligo or whether your baby will develop the condition after they are born.  Our article aims to address these concerns, so you can plan for the future with knowledge and confidence.

Vitiligo is a chronic autoimmune disease that occurs when the immune system destroys melanin-producing skin cells. This causes the skin to lose its pigmentation, resulting in white patches appearing on the face, neck and hands.

It is extremely rare to be born with vitiligo, although it is possible. Vitiligo can occur at any age, however it typically starts when a person is in their mid-twenties. It is not medically harmful in any way, and it is not contagious. If you have vitiligo, the likelihood of your child developing the condition is around 5-10%.

“I haven’t been overly concerned about my children developing the condition and have tried not to worry about it. We have just wanted them to be healthy and happy little people”. Anonymous, Mum with vitiligo

While the condition is not a medical concern, vitiligo can have a huge impact on your day-to-day life. While some people are naturally more resilient than others, it is not uncommon for vitiligo to cause self-esteem and mental health issues.

If vitiligo has an impact on your mental health and wellbeing, remember we’re here to help.

If you are planning to start a family and you have vitiligo, the following information may be useful to you.

If you have vitiligo, you may be worried about how pregnancy might affect your condition. After all, pregnancy causes numerous hormonal and physical changes in the body, so why wouldn’t it affect the skin?

According to research, only 17.54% of women surveyed reported worsening symptoms of vitiligo during pregnancy, with 66.66% reporting no change in the condition and 12.8% stating there had been an improvement.

“I first started noticing small patches a few years before I was pregnant. During the time I was pregnant, I didn’t notice a change to my skin and after having my daughter, I started using a topical steroid cream. Since then, I had some slight spreading. However, since getting pregnant again and having my son, there has been no changes to my skin. My vitiligo is mainly on my hands with some small patches elsewhere including knees, ankles and under my armpit.” Anonymous, Mum with vitiligo

While pregnancy can cause changes to the skin, such as dryness and itching, it is unlikely to significantly affect your vitiligo.

For women with vitiligo, there can be very specific fears surrounding postnatal depression and its potential impact on their condition. However, according to research carried out specifically during the postnatal period, 28.07% of women experienced their condition worsening, 63.15% said that it remained the same, and 5.26% saw an improvement. The study concluded that, “In most cases, vitiligo showed no change during pregnancy and for the first six months post delivery.”

One of the biggest concerns mothers-to-be have about vitiligo is passing the condition on to their children. While vitiligo is a hereditary condition, that doesn’t necessarily mean your baby will have vitiligo too.

“I was not worried about passing it to my baby. I was not worried because my understanding is that you’re predisposed to have vitiligo but it will not show until later in life not at birth. My last pregnancy is the only pregnancy in which I had vitiligo. A lot of my family were curious to see my stomach because of it. I was amazed how as my belly grew my patches stretched. Then looking at some of the patches re-pigmenting was exciting.” Anonymous, Mum with vitiligo

According to The British Skin Foundation, vitiligo has a genetic basis, although less than half of those with vitiligo know of someone in their family who also has it. If you have vitiligo, it does not necessarily follow that your children will develop it.

The goal of vitiligo treatment is to manage and stabilise the progress of any depigmentation. During pregnancy, it is important to continue with your treatments as much as you can to help manage the condition. Treatments suitable during pregnancy include:

Topical corticosteroids: Your doctor may prescribe you a topical cream or ointment to help stabilise your vitiligo. This is suitable during pregnancy, but you should always check with your GP.

Phototherapy: This treatment is safe for pregnant women. However, side effects can include itching, dry, or burning skin. Folic acid is recommended for pregnant women undergoing phototherapy to help ease these symptoms.

While research into vitiligo and its effects on pregnancy (and vice versa) is still ongoing, from what we currently understand, vitiligo tends to stabilise during pregnancy.  For some women, it may even improve during pregnancy.

We hope this article has helped to answer some of the questions you might have, and we wish you the very best of luck on your journey into parenthood.

Our general advice for anyone who has vitiligo and is pregnant is to focus on:

If you have any questions not answered, please do feel free to reach out to us on hello@vitiligosociety.org.uk.