Child-Bearing and Hair Loss

Contents During pregnancy After delivery Why does the hair fall excessively? Consequences and measures to take:    1) for normal hair    2) for hair that is receptive to androgen Treating postpartum hair loss

During pregnancy

During pregnancy, women who tend to lose their hair suddenly no longer do. Others, whose hair is excessively greasy by nature, or who suffer from chronic dandruff, often see the condition improve or even disappear. For most women, the hair has more strength and volume, and shines more, as if it were fertilised.  

After delivery

The magic unfortunately does not last foerer, and problems reappear two to three months after delivery or weaning (in the case of breastfeeding). The hair then starts to fall: the loss is sudden, and its intensity increases during three weeks to a month, and then progressively decreases.  

Why does the hair fall excessively?

Because the hair lives under hormonal dependence, so-called postpartum hair loss is due to the upsetting that takes place in a pregnant woman’s organism: the massive increase in the women’s oestrogen boosts the hair’s vitality, and artificially prolongs its life.

Inversely, after delivery, the sudden disappearance of those temporary hormones leads to the aggregated loss of all the hair that should have fallen over the 9 months. In its most severe forms, one can thus lose, in a few weeks, up to 20 or 30% of one’s hair. telogen effluvium.

The same condition is sometimes found, although to a less intense degree, after an abortion, a miscarriage or the interruption of a contraceptive pill that is high in oestrogen. It can also not take place after the first child-bearing, but appear after the second or third.

Consequences and measures to be taken:

For normal hair

If, before the pregnancy, your hair did not already tend to weaken, your hair loss will more than likely be without consequence. The hair’s regrowing will occur in the 2 to 3 months following the loss, and everything will be back to normal after 6 to 8 months.

Our tip: All we recommend is vitamin therapy, by oral intake, in order to help nature boost the hair’s vital functions. Do make sure however that the vitamin formula you will chose includes sufficient dosage of the three ingredients needed for hair growth: sulphured amino acids (the main element in keratin), zinc (which favours the acids’ synthesis) and vitamin B6 (which materialises the action of the two others).  

For hair that is receptive to androgen

If, however, your hair already tends to weaken (fewer and thinner hair on the top of the head), postpartum hair loss should not be taken lightly. Those symptoms show that the scalp is particularly receptive to androgen hormones (male hormones). During your pregnancy, the influx of feminine hormones can have temporarily neutralised those male hormones’ negative influence. But after delivery (or weaning if you are breastfeeding), the quality of your hair can be affected:  part of the regrowing hair will be thinner and more fragile.

And stress too… Ironically, hair loss occurs at the moment when the change in lifestyle that is brought by a child’s birth is stressful for most mothers. For those going back to work, it is often the moment when they have to give up their baby during the day and regain their professional life. Stress then causes an increased secretion of androgens and can increase the upsetting of hair cycles.

Motherhood as a triggering factor
Motherhood can also act as triggering factor. Some women indeed notice that their hair has changed ever since they had children. Before, the same women had never noticed any problem with their hair’s renewal. And it is precisely with motherhood that the problems have started: their hair has progressively deteriorated; it has become less abundant, thinner and harder to brush. As a consequence, if you do not treat your hair with each child-bearing, it risks deteriorating pregnancy after pregnancy and lose much of its density compared to how dense it originally was.

Our advice: We offer an In-Depth Hair Diagnosis, which will precisely assess the current state of your hair, and which decisions must be taken. 

Treatment of postpartum hair loss

We will go over all those tips in detail in the conclusions of your In-Depth Diagnosis.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Iron deficiency and Hair Loss
Telogen Effluvium (diffuse hair loss)
Hair Loss - Women's Androgenetic Alopecia
Impact of Androgen Hormones on Hair Loss
Thinner and Fewer Regrowing Hair
List and Rating of Contraceptives (based on the hair's perspective)
Vitamins by Oral Intake and Hair Loss
Your Diet and Hair Loss
Daily Hair Loss: What Is the Norm ?

FOR TREATING HAIR LOSS:
Hair Growth and Regrowing: Where Exactly to Act?
CLAUDERER Anti-Hair Loss Treatments
Clauderer in-Depth Hair Diagnosis

Diagnosis In-depth Clauderer Diagnosis: Have a complete hair checkup