Pregnancy is a time of significant hormonal changes in the body, as the mother accommodates and nourishes a growing baby within her own body.
These hormonal changes can lead to fluctuations in spectacle power. If this happens, it is often in the form of a myopic shift-ie short-sighted people become a bit more short-sighted, while long-sighted (hyperopic) people become a bit less long-sighted.
This is likely to be related to increases in both corneal thickness and curvature, and may be associated with fluid retention in the body. The changes usually reverse after the baby is born.
As the spectacle power measured during pregnancy may not be the same as what is present after the baby is born, it is usual for doctors to advise pregnant ladies who are keen for LASIK (and other refractive surgery) to wait until after the baby is born before having such surgery, so that a more accurate outcome can be achieved.
