Your sense of smell during pregnancy: this can change

There are a few things that women can clearly notice that they are pregnant, such as fatigue, breast tenderness and nausea.
But some women also notice this in the first trimester because they suddenly smell a lot better. The cooking skills of their neighbor, the perfume of the hubby or the cigarette smoke in a shopping street: suddenly smells come in much stronger.

How come? Hormones are the culprit, more precisely the hormone estrogen. But it is not known why one woman suffers from it and the other less or not at all.

Which scents?

Pregnant women often smell cooking smells, coffee, perfume and smoke better. It is also often the case that they suddenly have an aversion to certain smells that they previously could tolerate or liked. Some women even get nauseous when they are served coffee, for example.

Also read:
This is how your skin changes during pregnancy >

Because your sense of smell goes hand in hand with your taste, it often happens that pregnant women no longer like certain foods.

What can you do about it?

The good news is that this is a pregnancy ailment that mainly occurs in the first trimester. It usually subsides after that, but it can also continue to bother you to a greater or lesser extent during the rest of your pregnancy. In that case, you can do the following:

• try to avoid the smells that are unpleasant for you as much as possible
• ask people in your area (family, friends, colleagues) if they want to take this into account
• ventilate your house well
• open a window when you cook and shower
• use deodorant, soap and shampoo with a neutral scent

Source: Pregnancy Counter