Piercings you have had for a long time, for example on your navel, in your genital area or on your nipples, shouldn’t cause any problems during pregnancy. The piercing has probably healed and the punctured skin will stretch during pregnancy. To keep the area around the piercing smooth, you can treat it with oil or cream. But if your piercings suddenly cause pain, you should take them out as a precaution and insert a plastic placeholder instead. PTFE sticks are best suited for this purpose. You can find them wherever you can get piercings. Such plastic rods are flexible, adapt to changes in your body and do not cause inflammation. In case of severe pain or inflammation, you should make an appointment with a doctor as a precaution. By the time you give birth at the latest you must have completely removed genital piercings. Otherwise, the baby could get hurt. Piercings on the breast should always be removed for breastfeeding because they disturb the baby while drinking. In the worst case, children may even swallow the jewelry.

During pregnancy and while breastfeeding you should not get any new piercings, and especially no nipple piercings. This is because the risk of the skin becoming infected is particularly high during this time. Also, if you are not currently pregnant, but want to become pregnant soon, you should wait to get new piercings. It can take up to 18 months for the hole to heal.