Postpartum Hair Loss – What to expect AFTER you were Expecting?

A new baby is one of the most joyous life events anyone can experience. Sleep deprivation is what every new parent will tell you is the toughest things they face in the first year after birth but no one really talks about the hair loss that arrives as promptly as the sleep deprivation.

For the last number of months, you have probably had the most shiny, thick, beautiful hair of your life before the baby came along. It is no coincidence that when the baby arrives that your hair turns limp and lack lustered and to top it off it starts to fall out.

And why does this happen?

Can the baby be blamed or the lack of sleep and peace and quiet or the fact you haven’t left the house to see daylight in 3 weeks? Nope, it is actually to do with your hormones and please keep in mind this is a temporary condition and unlikely to last longer than 1 year.

Hormones are one of the main causes of hair loss in women in normal life, however add pregnancy hormones surging and dropping so quickly, this escalates into greater hair loss postpartum.

During pregnancy, natural shedding of hair drops due to estrogen and better blood circulation. However, as early as 24 hours after birth, hormone levels drop and hair starts to fall out. It is more noticeable than normal shedding, as essentially your hair has to make up for lost time. Breastfeeding can impact nutritional and hormonal balances which can result in hair shedding.

Normal daily shedding for women is about 50-150 hairs per day and during pregnancy this reduces by 80%. Post pregnancy, there are 280 days to make up for postpartum, so hair loss will run at a much higher rate, losing 250 to 350 hairs per day, which will be very noticeable to you and no doubt alarming. The hair loss will peak in months 3 to 4 postpartum around the time where sleep deprivation really starts to hurt making the hair loss an even more emotional event.

To put this in perspective in normal life the hair follicles that are in the resting phase at one time is usually around 15-20%. Postpartum this can increase to 70% of hair follicles that fall into the resting phase, but it is only temporary, while your body and hormones adjust to post pregnancy changes

What can you do?

Hair loss postpartum is nothing to worry about which is easier said than done when your hair is falling out by the clump, but this won’t be forever and it is just your hairs way of pressing the reset button. Postpartum hair loss is inevitable sadly but there are a few things you can do to make the best of your hair during this time:

1. Try not to use heated styling devices and avoid bleaching or colouring your hair during the first 3 to 4 months.

2. Eating well with foods containing omega, magnesium, iron, vitamin C and D – so fish, green vegetables, carrots and eggs. Also oral vitamins are recommended in conjunction with a balanced diet.

3. Don’t stress about your hair loss (easier said than done) as stress can lead to further hormone imbalances leading to more hair loss. Your hair follicles are not dying they are just resting after you did a wonderful thing a number of months before to bring your baby into this world, If you can focus on that, it will keep the stress hormone at bay.

4. There are a number of shampoos and conditioners we recommend in MHR Belfast, avoiding the cheap chemist products that damage your hair and look more to products with biotin.

5. See an expert. If you are stressed and need to talk, keep in mind MHR Belfast have free initial consultations with our hair loss professionals. We are happy to review your hairs current condition and we can advise if this is normal postpartum hair loss or if we think there is something else underlying. Anything to give you peace of mind.

If you reach one year postpartum or if in this time you hair looks noticeably thin (this would be classified as scalp being visible), please book an appointment with our hair loss professionals at MHR Belfast to put your mind at ease or to let us help with specific treatments we know will help. After 1 year, there is likely to be underlying issues to be diagnosed and postpartum hair loss will not be the issue at that stage.