Stretchmarks are most likely to crop up on your tummy, breasts and thighs from about six months onwards. They're the outward sign of broken elastic fibres in the skin and look red at first, but fade to silver-grey. There are creams and gels that claim to reduce their effects, but they can't do that much as the breaking of the fibres occurs some way beneath the skin's surface. The tendency to stretchmarks seems to run in families, so if your mum got them, you're more likely to get them too.
Your hair
Hair can look shiny and thick in pregnancy, probably because normal daily hair loss slows down. After the birth you may feel as though your hair's falling out more quickly. It's probably the contrast you're noticing, rather than anything more serious, but speak to your doctor if you're worried.
It's fine to use hair colourants and perm lotions on your hair, although you may find the results are unforeseen.

During your pregnancy you'll notice a number of differences in your outward. Apart from the apparent, your skin and hair texture may change, and you may need to follow a new care routine as a result.
Pigment changes
Effects on your skin may be remarkable from about 20 weeks onwards.
Dry skin
Moisturising bath and shower products may help if your skin is dry or itchy. In rare cases if your skin is very itchy all the time, mainly on your torso, it can be a sign of a condition called cholestasis, which affects the liver and kidneys. This can be harmful to your baby, so talk to your medical adviser.

Company promises 'healthy' chocolate
Mars Inc., maker of Milky Way, Snickers and M&M's sweetmeats, next month plans to launch nationwide a new line of products made with a dark chocolate the company statement has health benefits.
Called CocoaVia, the products are made with a kind of dark chocolate high in flavanols, an antioxidant found in cocoa beans that is thought to have a blood-thinning effect similar to aspirin and may even lower blood pressure. The snacks also are enriched with vitamins and with cholesterol-lowering plant sterols from soy.
But researchers are skeptical about using chocolate for its medicinal purposes and experts warn it's no substitute for a healthy diet.

It's important to realise that 'morning sickness' can come at any time of the day, although early morning is a common time. It's not unusual for a woman in early pregnancy to wake up feeling sick.
Feeling ill can start before you miss your first period, but it tends to get better over time and it's typical to feel much better after three months. Not everyone is so lucky, however: a very small number experience it throughout pregnancy.
It's believed that pregnancy hormones evoke the sickness. These circulate in the body, affecting all your organs and preparing your body to endure new life. One of the effects is retch. While it's a nuisance, and at worst a severely uncomfortable condition that can lead to undernourishment and constant weariness and weakness, there could be a good reason for it to happen.

Home pregnancy tests can be used two to three weeks after you think you may have conceived or on the first day of your missed period. Use one sooner than this and you may not get a reliable result.
The tests work by detecting the hormone human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) in your urine. A chemical in the plastic stick changes colour when it comes into contact with this hormone, so the standard way of testing is to wee on the end of the stick and watch for the result in the little window.
Pregnancy tests are very precise as long as you use them correctly. It's possible to have a 'false negative', when the test says you aren't pregnant when you are. If your period still doesn't arrive, repeat the test or check with your doctor.

Many women don't anticipate they're pregnant until their period doesn't come. But there are other symptoms to look out for:

• emesis and/or feelings of nausea
• a strange taste in your mouth, sometimes described as 'metallic'
• breast tenderness, tingling and enlargement
• the small 'bumps' on your nipples becoming more obvious - these are 'Montgomery's tubercules', which secrete an oily fluid in preparation for breastfeeding
• stomach pains
• weariness
• constipation
• needing to wee more often
• going off certain things, such as coffee and fatty foods

Are you healthy but unhappy?
If your weight lies within the healthy range but you're unhappy with your form, you're likely to derive more benefits from a supervised exercise programme than by restricting your food. This will better your fitness, help to tone specific muscle groups and gradate your overall health and wellbeing. Plan your diet to optimise your health.

What's your BMI?
Many people have a distorted perception of what constitutes a healthy body weight. We're surrounded by images of glamorous people, many of whom are in fact underweight. Looking at yourself in the mirror isn't a very useful way to assess whether you're a healthy weight either. Most people compare themselves with others rather than by objective standards.
Doctors check your body size by measuring your weight and height. This calculation is known as the body mass index (BMI). Research has shown that people within a certain range of body size tend to live the longest and enjoy the best health.