What You Need To Know When Dealing With Postpartum Hair Thinning

Becoming a mother can be very rewarding and simultaneously very challenging. Your body is going through a whirlwind of changes, and in the middle of all this, you do not expect your hair to start falling out in clumps. But for many women it does.

This excessive hair shedding occurs most often between two and four months after giving birth, and according to statistics from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, most women do experience this.

But why do women experience postpartum thinning hair? We asked Dr. Christine Carlan Greves, a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist practicing in Orlando, Florida. Dr. Greves has been working with a lot of these cases and is familiar with postpartum hair loss.

“When a woman is pregnant, she has a lot of extra hormones in the body, including estrogen,” she says.

“The estrogen helps protect us from losing our hair. Then when she has the baby, there’s a sudden change in the hormone levels, including a drop in the estrogen. And this shift can cause a response in the body that may affect the hair cycle,” she continues, adding that breastfeeding might also be a contributing factor to excessive hair shedding anecdotally.

“When breastfeeding, the prolactin levels are increased. That hormone, that is responsible for breast milk production, has been associated with hair fall as well,” Dr. Greves explains.

Shedding hair as a postpartum reaction cannot be entirely prevented but there are ways to manage shedding and promote healthy growth. While it can be hard to find a moment for self-care during this hectic period, it certainly does not hurt to take extra care of your hair however possible. The following remedies are easy ones you can do at home in a matter of minutes.

Volumizing shampoos tend to contain dimethicone, which is a silicone-based polymer that coats and seals the hair. While this does not stop hair from shedding, it will give your hair the illusion of looking fuller to compensate for the temporary thinning.

When conditioning your hair, make sure to only condition the roots. If you condition the strands further out as well, it will weigh the hair down, making it easier to break and fall off.

Use massage to increase the blood flow to your scalp and invest in a scalp treatment that will help you clear away dead skin cells around the hair follicles. This prevents buildup and irritation on the scalp, which can support hair growth.

Do not pull your hair back too tightly. The traction can lead to hair thinning along the hairline, which is mostly where postpartum hair thinning takes place. Try putting a scarf over your hair instead of ponytailing it.

Nutrafol Postpartum is formulated with a proprietary Synergen Recovery Complex®—an innovative blend of clinically effective ingredients like Shatavari, Omega 3s, and Apple Extract to support hair health after childbirth. Developed with an OBGYN, the whole-food sourced ingredients in this daily supplement target common root causes of thinning hair during the postpartum transition, like nutritional gaps, physical stress from childbirth, and the emotional stress of a new routine, to support healthier hair growth. Unlike many options on the market, Nutrafol Postpartum is breastfeeding-friendly, compatible with prenatal and multivitamins, and can be taken immediately after birth.

If you gave birth in the past year or are currently breastfeeding and are in the process of growing your hair back, Nutrafol Postpartum may be a great addition to help your hair remain healthy and strong as it begins to naturally grow again.