Why pregnancy makes hands tingle

PREGNANCY does strange things to the body. But numb hands and arms has to be among the most bizarre effects. About one in five mothers develop a condition called carpal tunnel syndrome after their fourth month of pregnancy. It causes pain, tingling and numbness in the hands and arms and happens when the median nerve, which controls some movement of the thumb and feeling to several fingers, is damaged or pinched. During pregnancy, the nerve can be easily pinched by fluid retention in the hand.

In the vast majority of cases, the problem vanishes after baby is delivered.