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Dr. Chrysoula I. Liakou MD, PhD
- Treated online: Yes, usually. Eczema is assessed well from photos and video, with emollients and mild to moderate steroid creams prescribed when needed; weeping, crusted or blistered skin with fever, itching without a rash, or eczema not responding after 2 weeks are directed to in-person care.
- What it is: dry, inflamed, itchy skin from a weakened skin barrier and an allergic-type immune response, which pregnancy amplifies; about half of women with existing eczema flare, mostly before 24 weeks, and new eczema in pregnancy (atopic eruption) accounts for about half of all pregnancy rashes.
- Treatment: emollients several times a day and as a soap substitute, with no limit in pregnancy; mild to moderate steroid creams applied thinly to active patches for 1 to 2 weeks at a time; antihistamines at night for sleep; stronger steroids only under a specialist.
- Not harmful: eczema does not harm the baby and is not infectious; the risks are broken skin, infection with bacteria or cold-sore virus, lost sleep and the temptation to stop treatment, which lets it worsen.
- How long: a flare settles within 1 to 2 weeks of proper treatment; pregnancy-driven eczema calms within weeks to a few months of the birth, and the tendency returns in later pregnancies, so having emollients ready from the start prevents most of it.
- Emergency: eczema is never a 112 emergency; clusters of small painful blisters or punched-out sores spreading fast with fever can be eczema herpeticum, which needs in-person antiviral treatment without delay.
Seek urgent in-person care for painful clusters of small blisters or punched-out sores with fever or feeling unwell (possible eczema herpeticum), and call 112 if you are severely unwell. Intense itching of the palms and soles without a rash is a different problem: get medical advice the same day from your midwife or maternity unit about blood tests, as explained on the itchy skin in pregnancy page.
How do you treat eczema in pregnancy?
Eczema in pregnancy is treated much as at any other time, with the plan checked for pregnancy safety. Emollients (medical moisturisers) are the foundation and can be used as often as needed. Topical corticosteroids remain the standard flare treatment: mild or moderate strength, applied thinly to active patches for short courses, with stronger products reserved for a doctor’s specific advice.[1][4]
Two corrections to things you may have read. First, eczema is not an infection and it is not contagious: it is an inflammatory skin condition in which the skin barrier leaks moisture and overreacts to irritants.[3] Second, “no creams are safe in pregnancy” is the opposite of the truth. Untreated eczema means broken skin, lost sleep and a real risk of bacterial infection, while the standard treatments, used correctly, have reassuring safety records.[1] The goal of a consultation is a plan you can use confidently, not a list of things to fear.
How an online consultation helps with eczema in pregnancy
- A pregnancy-checked treatment plan: every cream and tablet in your plan is reviewed against pregnancy and breastfeeding safety, with clear yes, no or adjust answers instead of vague caution.
- Photo-based severity assessment: the doctor sees how widespread and inflamed your eczema is, where it sits, and whether anything looks infected, which decides the steroid strength and course length.
- The steroid-strength conversation: which potency, how thinly, for how many days, and on which body sites, so you get control of the flare without either overuse or the quiet under-treatment that keeps it smouldering.
- Honest routing when it is not eczema: itching without a rash, blistering, or a new rash pattern in late pregnancy each point to different conditions, and the doctor says so and directs you rather than guessing.
📷 Before your appointment: take two or three photos in daylight: one showing the overall area affected, a close-up of the worst patch in sharp focus, and any area that looks different from the rest (weeping, crusted or blistered). Sharp photos let the doctor judge severity and spot infection, which is exactly what the treatment choice hangs on.
What the doctor checks in an online eczema in pregnancy consultation
The assessment is structured, and pregnancy adds specific questions. Expect the doctor to cover:
- How many weeks pregnant you are, whether you are breastfeeding an older child, and who provides your antenatal care.
- Your eczema history: whether this is a flare of long-standing eczema or a first-ever rash in pregnancy, which changes the differential diagnosis.
- Distribution and severity from your photos: body sites matter, because thin-skinned areas such as the face and skin folds need milder products than thicker skin on hands or legs.[1]
- Signs of infection: weeping, golden crusting, rapidly worsening redness or pain, which change the plan and may need antibiotic treatment.
- What you are using now: exact product names and strengths, how much and how often, because “a steroid cream from the pharmacy” covers everything from very mild to potent.
- Itch and sleep: how badly itching disturbs your nights, which is both a severity marker and a treatable problem in itself.
- The itch pattern check: whether itching affects your palms and soles without a rash, worse at night, which is never assumed to be eczema in pregnancy.
- Triggers: soaps and fragranced washes, wool against skin, heat and sweating (all more bothersome in pregnancy), and occupational hand exposure to water and detergents.
Why has my eczema flared now I am pregnant?
Pregnancy shifts your hormones and immune balance, and skin often responds. Eczema is one of the most common skin conditions in pregnancy, and existing eczema worsens for many women, most often in the first two trimesters; some women develop an eczema-like rash for the first time while pregnant, called atopic eruption of pregnancy.[3][5] Neither harms the baby, but both deserve proper treatment rather than endurance.
Is it definitely eczema? What else it could be
Not every itchy rash in pregnancy is eczema, and part of the consultation is checking the imitators. An itchy bumpy rash appearing in the stretch marks late in pregnancy is more likely polymorphic eruption of pregnancy, covered on the rashes in pregnancy page. Intense itching with no rash to see, especially involving the palms and soles at night, raises obstetric cholestasis and needs same-day blood tests through your maternity unit. Blisters that start around the belly button and spread are a rare autoimmune condition, pemphigoid gestationis, needing urgent in-person dermatology care.[3] The pattern, the timing and good photos usually separate these quickly.
Which eczema treatment might the doctor recommend in pregnancy?
Treatment follows severity and body site. This is the decision framework the doctors use, aligned with European and UK guidance:[1]
Swipe sideways to compare →
| Presentation | Likely first step | Suitable for online care? | When referral or in-person care is needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry, itchy patches; mild flare of known eczema | Generous emollients plus a mild topical steroid in a short course | Yes | No improvement after an adequate course |
| Moderate flare, red and itchy enough to disturb sleep | Moderate-potency topical steroid short course, emollients continued, itch plan | Usually yes | Widespread involvement, or not settling on review |
| Weeping, golden-crusted or rapidly worsening patches | Assessment for infected eczema; antibiotics only where there are genuine signs of bacterial infection | Often, with good photos | Fever, spreading redness, or infection near the eyes |
| Painful grouped blisters or punched-out sores, feeling unwell | Same-day in-person care for possible eczema herpeticum | No | Always urgent and in person |
| Severe eczema needing more than creams | Specialist referral; some tablet treatments must not be used in pregnancy | Assessment and referral | Any consideration of immune-suppressing tablets or light therapy |
Not sure which row is your skin? A doctor can tell you in one consultation.
See available times →Treatment options for eczema in pregnancy
What you can do yourself
Use emollients generously and often: there is no upper limit in pregnancy, and the more consistently you use them, the less steroid cream you tend to need.[1] Swap soaps and shower gels for an emollient wash, keep showers lukewarm, pat rather than rub dry, and wear cotton next to your skin. Keep nails short, and tackle night-time scratching with a bedtime emollient layer and a cool bedroom. Heat and sweating under a growing bump make skin folds flare, so light layers help more than you would expect. None of this is glamorous; all of it works better in combination than any single cream used alone.
Prescription treatment
A prescription is never issued without a consultation. The honest hierarchy in pregnancy runs like this. Topical corticosteroids are the workhorse: mild and moderate potencies are the preferred choices and are considered safe used correctly, applied thinly to active patches for days to a couple of weeks rather than months.[1] Potent steroids are used when genuinely needed, in short supervised courses on limited areas; the research caution is specifically about large quantities of potent products used over long periods, which is exactly what a doctor-led plan avoids.[1][4] If itching wrecks your sleep, the doctor can discuss antihistamine options with pregnancy in mind rather than leaving you to guess at the pharmacy shelf. Where eczema is infected, antibiotic treatment is added only when there are genuine signs of bacterial infection; antibiotics do nothing for ordinary eczema flares.[2] Some treatments sit firmly outside online pregnancy care: calcineurin-inhibitor creams are a specialist decision, and immune-suppressing tablets such as methotrexate must not be used in pregnancy at all, so anyone taking them who is pregnant or planning pregnancy needs a prompt specialist medication review, which the doctor can help arrange.[3]
When eczema in pregnancy is treated online, and when you need in-person care
Treated online: flares of known eczema at any stage of pregnancy; first assessment of new itchy rashes with photos; steroid potency and course planning; infected-looking patches suitable for photo assessment; itch and sleep plans; and prescription renewals of established creams after a review. The same photo-and-video approach covers eczema outside pregnancy on the main eczema treatment page.
In-person care: suspected eczema herpeticum (painful blisters or punched-out sores with feeling unwell) goes to same-day in-person care, and severely infected eczema with fever or spreading redness may need urgent treatment beyond a pharmacy prescription. Severe eczema that creams cannot hold belongs with a dermatologist, because the tablet options need specialist judgement in pregnancy. Itching of the palms and soles without a rash goes to your midwife or maternity unit today for bile acid blood tests, and blistering spreading from around the navel needs urgent in-person dermatology assessment. In each case the consultation buys you the right referral, stated plainly.
When to get in-person care
Seek same-day in-person care for clusters of painful small blisters or punched-out sores, especially with fever or feeling unwell (possible eczema herpeticum), and for rapidly spreading, hot, painful redness. Call 112 if you are severely unwell, faint or struggling to breathe, and tell the call handler you are pregnant. Contact your midwife or maternity unit today, without waiting for a routine appointment, if you have intense itching of your palms and soles without a rash, if your baby’s movements reduce or change, or if you develop fever with a spreading rash.
How Mobi Doctor works
- Book a time that suits you: open daily 7am–11pm CET. You can see a doctor over video, usually within 15 minutes. No subscription, exact price up front.
- Upload your skin photos, then speak to a licensed doctor: a private video call: you describe what you feel, the doctor asks what matters, and you agree the right plan together.
- Leave with your plan: everything agreed before you hang up: your plan, and a prescription to use at a pharmacy near you where medication is clinically right for you. If your doctor decides you need to be seen in person, you get a full refund.
No sign-up needed
Not sure it’s eczema? Tick every symptom you have to see each page that mentions it. It finds the right page, not a diagnosis: a doctor gives you that on a video call.
Tap the body — an area or a point — to browse symptoms anywhere
Similar symptoms, different condition? Asthma in Pregnancy and Hay Fever in Pregnancy can start the same way. Compare them, or look up any other symptom in the full symptom checker.
Frequently asked questions about eczema in pregnancy
What is eczema in pregnancy, and why has it flared now?
Eczema in pregnancy is the same atopic dermatitis as before, and it flares because pregnancy tilts the immune system towards the allergic type of response that drives eczema, hormones dry the skin, and stretching, heat, sweating and extra washing irritate it. Around half of women with eczema flare, usually in the first two trimesters, and women who never had it can develop atopic eruption of pregnancy, the commonest pregnancy rash.
What are the symptoms of eczema in pregnancy?
Eczema causes dry, red, scaly, intensely itchy patches, often in the elbow and knee creases, on the hands, wrists, neck, face and nipples, that crack, weep and thicken with scratching; in pregnancy it often spreads to the trunk and limbs as small itchy bumps. Itching without any rash, especially on the palms and soles, is not eczema and needs blood tests for cholestasis.
Can an online doctor prescribe eczema treatment during pregnancy in the EU?
Yes, after a consultation. The doctor assesses your eczema by photo and video, then prescribes pregnancy-appropriate treatment when it is right for you, usually a generous emollient plan and a mild or moderate steroid cream for short courses, with the prescription usable at a pharmacy near you. A prescription is never issued without a consultation, and infected or severe eczema is directed to in-person care.
Are steroid creams safe to use for eczema while pregnant?
Used correctly, yes. Mild and moderate steroid creams, applied thinly to active eczema patches for one to two weeks at a time, are the standard treatment in pregnancy; very little is absorbed, and large studies show no effect on the baby. Potent steroids are used only on specialist advice and in small amounts, because very large quantities over months have been linked to lower birth weight. Undertreated eczema is the commoner problem.
How much emollient can I use for eczema in pregnancy?
As much as you need, as often as you like. Emollients are not absorbed in meaningful amounts and have no pregnancy restrictions, so apply a plain, unperfumed cream or ointment several times a day, use it as a soap substitute, and keep one in the fridge for itch; most eczema in pregnancy needs a large tub rather than a small tube every couple of weeks, far more than people expect.
Will my eczema harm the baby?
No. Eczema does not harm a baby in the womb, is not an infection and does not affect the placenta. The realistic problems are yours: broken skin that gets infected, sleep lost to itching, and anxiety about creams that leads to undertreatment. A baby of parents with eczema has a higher chance of developing it, which emollients from birth may modestly reduce.
Why is my skin itchy without any rash in pregnancy?
Itching without a rash is a different question from eczema. If it involves the palms and soles, is worse at night and has no rash to see, it needs bile acid blood tests through your maternity unit to check for intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy. Dry skin and stretching also itch without much to see, and settle with emollients, but the tests come first.
Can I keep using my eczema creams while breastfeeding?
Emollients, yes, freely. Steroid creams are compatible with breastfeeding when used as directed; if you need them on or near the nipple, apply them after a feed and wipe the area before the next one. Eczema of the nipple is common when feeding, responds to emollient and a short mild steroid course, and is distinguished from thrush of the nipple, which needs antifungal treatment.
How long does eczema in pregnancy last?
A treated eczema flare usually settles within one to two weeks, and the skin stays calm as long as emollients continue. Pregnancy-driven eczema generally improves within weeks to a few months of the birth as hormones and immunity settle, though breastfeeding, broken sleep and hand-washing with a newborn can keep hand eczema going. Flares tend to return in future pregnancies, usually at the same stage.
What can I do myself for eczema in pregnancy?
Moisturise at least twice a day and after every wash, use an emollient instead of soap, keep baths short and lukewarm, pat dry, wear cotton, keep the bedroom cool, apply a cold compress or chilled emollient for itch, cut nails short, avoid wool and perfumed products, and apply steroid cream to active patches rather than waiting for them to spread. Managing stress and sleep also calms eczema.
How can I prevent eczema flares during pregnancy?
Prevent eczema flares by continuing emollients daily from the first weeks even when the skin looks fine, treating the first sign of a patch promptly, avoiding known triggers and new perfumed products, protecting the hands with gloves for wet work, and not stopping effective treatment out of caution; the review that confirms which creams are suitable in pregnancy prevents the undertreatment that drives most flares.
What does infected eczema look like, and what should I do?
Infected eczema weeps yellow fluid, crusts, becomes hotter, redder and more painful, and may bring fever. It needs an in-person assessment and usually an antibiotic cream or a pregnancy-suitable antibiotic course. Clusters of small painful blisters or punched-out sores spreading quickly, with fever, suggest eczema herpeticum from the cold-sore virus, which is treated with antivirals without delay.
Is it eczema or another pregnancy rash?
Eczema sits in the creases and on the hands and face, dry and scaly, often with a history of it; atopic eruption of pregnancy is eczema-like bumps on the limbs and trunk in mid-pregnancy; polymorphic eruption starts in the stretch marks late in a first pregnancy and spares the navel; pemphigoid gestationis blisters around the navel and needs a specialist; and scabies itches worst at night with burrows between the fingers. Photos separate them.
- Eczema (atopic): Clinical Knowledge Summary, NICE, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, revised 2024.
- Secondary bacterial infection of eczema and other common skin conditions: antimicrobial prescribing (NG190), NICE, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, 2021.
- Skin changes in pregnancy (dermatoses of pregnancy), DermNet New Zealand Trust, accessed August 2026.
- Topical steroid, DermNet New Zealand Trust, accessed August 2026.
- Prurigo of pregnancy (atopic eruption of pregnancy), DermNet New Zealand Trust, accessed August 2026.
- Atopic eczema, NHS, National Health Service (UK), reviewed September 2024.
This page is for information only and is not a substitute for a medical consultation. Guideline links are provided for transparency; treatment decisions are made with your doctor and antenatal team.
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