Being pregnant is one of the most exhilarating and stressful times in any woman’s life. The changes that the body goes through to protect and prepare for the baby are truly amazing. The changes that take place on woman's body are not always pretty though. One thing to worry about is stretch marks. There are many ways in which an expectant mother can prevent stretch marks like using a stretch mark cream or just simple hydration. Unfortunately, these stretch marks can sometimes leave life long reminders of the pregnancy. These marks can be thick, large, red and deep in color. Stretch Marks can cause many women to feel self conscious about their scars. The best way to deal with stretch marks is to prevent them from happening. While the body is morphing to prepare for childbirth, the skin stretches to expand enough to cover the growing area. While every woman will deal with these tears and stretches in the skin to some extent, some women have end up with far worse stretch marks than others. Like many different characteristics of women, heredity plays a big part in stretch marks. Discuss with your mother how bad her stretch marks were during and after child birth. Knowing how bad hers were will help you realize what to expect and steps that needed to be taken to prevent it from happening to you. A woman’s ethnicity and skin coloring also plays a large part in the appearance of stretch marks. The darker the skin is the less likely stretch marks are to appear. Prevention Hydration plays a very important role in keeping skin elasticity up. Keeping your water and fluid intake high can help to prevent stretch marks from occurring. Woman who do not focus on keeping their bodies hydrated are more likely to experience other problems with their skin as well. Keeping active before, during and after pregnancy can also help mothers keep their chances of stretch marks low. Exercise can help to boost the elasticity of a woman’s skin. Exercising regularly also tones skin, which helps to lower the chance of stretch marks. Another cause of stretch marks is weight gain. Keeping your weight as low as possible throughout the pregnancy plays a huge role in keeping skin looking tight and healthy. Controlling your diet and eating well will not only help prevent stretch marks, but also help in getting your post baby body back. Which creams will help a women prevent stretch marks? The following is a list of creams that are for preventing or treating stretch marks: Revitol, Bio Oil, Mederma, Trilastin, cocoa butter, Retin-A, vitamin E, and collagen. These creams should be used at least once a day or more if you are able to do so.Your diet during pregnancy can either assist or inhibit your body from being stretch mark free.