You may notice changes in your skin during pregnancy. People may comment on your sudden glow, which is a reflection of your inner happiness. Stretch marks, varicose and acne are unwanted pregnancy effects.
You may notice a discolouration on your abdomen, which looks like a bruise. This can occur near or around the belly button. Most of the time, the bruising on your abdomen is nothing to worry about. However, you should still bring it up to your doctor for confirmation.
Bruise
When your skin is injured, a bruise or contusion can form. When you bump into soft tissue, tiny blood vessels break under the surface of the skin. This allows red blood cells from the vessels to leak and collect under the surface, creating a bruise that can appear blue, purple or red. Your skin will stretch as your belly expands to accommodate your growing fetus. Those with an “inny belly button” may notice a new bulge.
The skin around your belly button is very sensitive in these cases because it has been protected.
Even simple things like rubbing clothing against the belly button can cause a bruise. Some discolourations near or on the belly button can look like bruises but are something else.
Linea Nigra
Tiny red dots on the skin during pregnancy
You may notice a dark line running from your pubic region to your belly button during your second trimester. The linea nigra is a line that appears in all women, but it usually remains a light shade and goes unnoticed. The pregnancy can lead to a hormonal imbalance that causes the linea-nigra to darken. Linea nigra can appear as a small bruise around the belly button. However, if you look closely, it continues vertically down your stomach.
Separation of abdominal muscles
Diastasis recti, or abdominal muscle separation during pregnancy, is medically referred to as diastasis. When pressure is applied to your abdominal wall, it can cause so much tension that the left and right sides of the abdominal muscle separate. You may notice a slight bruising or a feeling of stretching in your abdominal area, particularly around the belly button.
You may notice a gap if the diastasis occurs early in your pregnancy. It appears as a bulge in the latter months of pregnancy.
Hernia biliary
The symptoms of epigastric hernia
Umbilical hernias occur when your belly button bulges out because part of your intestines has protruded through your abdominal muscles. Umbilical hernias are most common in infants but can also occur during pregnancy when the strain of pregnancy puts too much pressure on the abdominal muscles. Umbilical hernias can cause a protrusion that looks like a bruise around the belly button.