During pregnancy

Estrogen levels rise rapidly in early pregnancy and remain high throughout pregnancy. Migraines often improve or even disappear during pregnancy. However, tension headaches usually won't improve, as they aren't affected by hormone changes.

If you have chronic headaches, before you become pregnant, ask your doctor about medications and therapies that can help you during pregnancy. Many headache medications have harmful or unknown effects on a developing baby.

After delivery, an abrupt decrease in estrogen levels — along with stress, irregular eating habits and lack of sleep — might trigger headaches again.

Although you'll need to be cautious about which headache medications you take while breastfeeding, you'll likely have more options than you did during pregnancy. Your doctor can tell you which medications you can take.