Post-partum Hair Loss

[bistin]

I gave birth 3 and a half months ago and I immediately had to cut my hair short because it was dull, rough and completely frizzy. I assumed the change was from hormones. Now my hair is falling out. It's not terrible amounts of hair loss but my husband and some friends have been commenting about my shoulders being covered in hair. Have any of you ladies had this problem? What did you do?

[May]

I had my son 4 months ago and even though I had some shedding it wasn't anything major or noticeable. I did read about it prior to giving birth though because I was afraid I would go through it and I know a few friends who did and what seems to work is nutrient dense diet, exercise, de-stressing, vitamins and B.C pills.

Here is an article from www.babycenter.ca discussing postpartum shedding. It actually says it's more noticeable in long hair. Interesting, I wonder why. Anyway here's the article.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_postpartum-hair-loss_11721.bc

You can also check out this http://www.longhaircommunity.com/archive/printthread.php?t=32024 post here on LHC. :)

[white line]

I had this problem with my first son. I shed alot of hair for about 4 months after he was born. The one thing I had noticed prior to his delivery was that in the last trimester I had stopped all shedding. By the time he was born, I could tell my hair was much thicker. I think I was just losing all that should have been lost in the prior months. It stopped on its own and my hair returned to normal. My last two pregnancies, I did not have this problem everything was normal. My youngest is 3 1/2 months old also. Hopefully the shedding will stop soon for you. Maybe just keep taking your daily vitamin.

[Brenda714]

what I've heard is that your hair thickens up while you are pregnant and what you see shedding is only that growth, not your regular hair, so I hope that helps.

I've been sheddling a lot but not from pregnancy, I've been told that we go through cycles also, in the summer esp. and not to worry about it, I'll try not too and keep my finger crossed. Good luck to you in your endeavor for beautiful hair!

[Mystical9]

After having my daughter I had horrible hair loss and it seemed to last quite some time. My OBGYN told me that hair will not shed while pregnant but all the hair that was supposed to shed when pregnant will shed when your hormones return to normal. So don't worry, it is completely normal.

[missfortune9335]

From what I've read on the subject the deal is this: everyone's hair has a natural growth cycle, individual hairs grow for a pre-determend time and then they fall out and new ones grow (thus normal regular shedding everyone has) when you are pregnant the increase in hormones etc. "locks" your hair into it's growth cycle and skips the shedding cycle.
After the baby is born the body then goes through a major shedding cycle before returning back to normal. Of course YMMV as everyone's pregnancy is different, everyone's hair is different etc. etc. But it's totally normal and your hair will grow back once your hormones are done doing their thing.

[arabian princes]

yes. and funnily - it is when your baby is four months old!
our arabic ancesters say - your hair falls after delivery when your baby ' recognises' you ... something like old wives tales
i had kids before, but it only fell in this child. differs with every pregnancy i guess..
A nightmare!

[jayde9]

I have a 10 month old, and when she turned 4 months I started shedding. It was excessive. I have thin hair to begin with, so my Hair thinned out alot. It went on for almost 4 months before I turned back to my regular amount of shedding. NOw my hair on the right side is alot thinner. But the good news is I DO HAVE REGROWTH. I have lil baby hairs about an inch long all over my head, looks like my hair has snapped. I actually was a lil depressed over this, I knew I was going bald.

[Gogobaby]

I am very concerned about getting pregnant - I know it sounds shallow -because I don't want to lose my hair. When you ladies say it returns to normal, do you mean that new growth happens to make up the loss or that all the 'locked' hair is just let go? Please help me! I don't want to cut my locks off!

[shutterpillar]

I had horrible hair loss after I had my son. I easily lost about 30-40% of my hair. I had it cut into a bob to make it look a bit thicker, but it didn't help much. My hair is already fine to begin with, so coupled with the dark circles from being up with a newborn all night, I looked like I had some serious health issues going on.

I have heard some people swear by Castor Oil on the scalp where the hair loss is, but I have never personally tried it. I just had to wait for all the hair to grow back in, which took just under two years. And even now, 5 years later, it doesn't seem as thick as it used to be before I had my son. What is strange is I didnt experience hair loss at all after the birth of my first child.

[Maelyssa]

After having my daughter I had horrible hair loss and it seemed to last quite some time. My OBGYN told me that hair will not shed while pregnant but all the hair that was supposed to shed when pregnant will shed when your hormones return to normal. So don't worry, it is completely normal.

Exactly this....and in most cases just when you feel it's been going on forever and that you may go bald, it begins to stop and your hair normalize again. Good luck and congrats on your little one!

[pogo0685]

When I had my son I had a period where my hair was falling out in clumps, and my ends got very thin. On top of that I was not eating well and not taking a very good vitamin. This time I plan to eat well, actually do some workouts and it sounds gross but I also plan to have my placenta encapsulated so I can try to get all the minerals and vitamins back. I had seriously bad baby blues and I am hoping that all this will help with that and also with my body getting back to normal. Hopefully I can avoid my hair coming out in clumps this time, I don't mind a little shedding but clumps scares me.