Facts on Varicose Veins

Courtesy of Dr. Gerard M. DiLeo (Baby Zone)

• They won't go away, because you've always had these veins, but hopefully they'll shrink back down to their pre-pregnancy size and become unnoticeable.

• Sometimes veins can get so inflamed (especially when they're hemorrhoids) that a surgeon has to lance or remove them, but this is something best left until after pregnancy if they persist.

• The reason why pregnancy makes a woman more prone to this engorgement of blood vessels is that the weight of the baby and uterus presses on the vena cava, the main drainage blood vessel bringing blood back to the heart from the lower body. This tends to impede the flow, and gravity dependent areas back up and engorge the most.
  

• Propping up the legs during bed rest helps, too. In the meantime, the engorgement of blood within the veins can be kept pressed out by applying pressure. There are maternity stores and medical supply stores which have girdles and hose specifically designed to keep these types of things under control. They're not great, but they'll help.