Changes in your eyes during pregnancy

Hormonal shifts and fluid changes may affect the eye's surface or the way light is focused, causing dryness, irritation or a change in spectacle or contact-lens comfort. New visual symptoms should not simply be attributed to pregnancy without checking for warning signs.

Dry, gritty or tired eyes can make contact lenses less comfortable. Fluid retention may temporarily change the cornea's shape, so vision can seem slightly different even with your usual prescription. Migraine can also cause visual disturbance in some people. Blurred vision or flashing lights can occur with pre-eclampsia, particularly alongside severe headache, pain below the ribs, vomiting, sudden swelling or feeling very unwell.

Rest your eyes during close work, wear glasses if contact lenses become uncomfortable and ask a pharmacist or clinician which lubricating eye drops are suitable in pregnancy. Do not drive if vision is blurred or distorted. If your prescription seems different, an optometrist can check your eyes, but mention that you are pregnant because temporary focusing changes may settle after birth. Continue any prescribed eye medicine unless the prescriber advises a change.

Contact your maternity unit immediately for new blurred vision, flashing lights or other significant visual disturbance, especially with severe headache, pain under the ribs, vomiting, sudden swelling or feeling very unwell. Seek emergency eye care for sudden loss of vision, a dark curtain or shadow, a painful red eye, eye injury, or many new floaters and flashes. Urgency depends on the symptom and its onset, not on how common minor eye changes are in pregnancy.

Describe whether the problem affects one or both eyes, whether it began suddenly and whether it comes and goes. Ask if your blood pressure and urine need checking, whether an optometrist or ophthalmologist should examine you, and which eye drops are suitable. If you have diabetes or an existing eye condition, clarify whether pregnancy changes your monitoring plan.