Most parents will explore their baby's body from head to toe within the first few days, often discovering small marks on various parts of their baby's skin. Most babies are born with spots or some form of marks or discolorations on their skin. The majority of these being temporary, fading or disappearing after a period of time. A few will increase in size before shrinking and disappearing in a year or two.
Actual birthmarks, which are permanent and will stay with the baby for life, will only be occasionally discovered on a new baby. We don't know why babies develop birthmarks and they are not believed to be connected to anything the mother has done during the pregnancy, rather a natural, unpredictable phenomenon.
Permanent birthmarks can be of no consequence or they can be distressing for parents, especially if they are large or situated on a prominent area, like the baby's face. Many parents may take a while to come to terms with these types of markings, often grieving for the loss of their 'perfect baby' or feeling concerned about how the mark will affect their child's life.
Some of the more common marks that can be found on a baby's skin soon after birth (be they temporary or permanent) can include:
Stork marks
Strawberry marks
Spider marks
Mongolian spots
Birthmarks
'Port wine' mark
Stork marks. Stork marks or 'stork-bites' are small pink or red patches on the baby's skin, usually seen on the baby's eyelids, forehead, nose, top lip, between their eyes on the bridge of their nose, and over the nape of their neck, just below the hairline. The medical term for stork-bites is 'vascular ectasia' and they are found in about 50% of all newborn babies. These marks are harmless and will usually disappear over time.
Stork marks are caused by a collection of tiny blood vessels, being just visible underneath the baby's fine skin (which is half the thickness of an adult's skin).