Topical Application of Cocoa Butter for Prevention of Striae Gravidarum

Primigravid women presenting for prenatal care in the first trimester will be recruited to participate in the study. They will be randomly assigned to receive the study lotion (a commercially available lotion containing cocoa butter with viatmin E), a placebo lotion (a lotion containing vitamin E but no cocoa butter). Participants and investigators will be blinded to the lotion assignment.

Women will be asked to apply a thin layer of the lotion to their abdomen, breasts and thighs once daily until the date of delivery. Participants will be recruited as early in their pregnancy as possible but will not be asked to start applying the lotion before 12 weeks of pregnancy. Women presenting after 20 weeks of pregnancy will not be eligible to participate in the study. The cocoa butter and placebo lotions have been made up to look, smell and feel the same and will be provided to the participants in identical containers. Women who have known hypersensitivity to cocoa butter or any of the components of the lotion will be excluded from the study.

Participants will be assessed at study entry for presence of stretch marks. Baseline information will be collected at that time including pre-pregnancy weight, skin type, and history of stretch marks in the mother or siblings. Women will then be followed up monthly by telephone to assess compliance with the regimen and ensure that they are not developing skin reactions.

Participants will be assessed for the development of stretch marks after delivery. Women will also be asked to provide their own assessment of their skin condition in terms of presence/absence of stretch marks and their severity.