Pregnancy has its ups and downs but generally, when it comes to your hair it’s usually all uphill until it’s not.
what do I mean?
One of the many benefits of being pregnant is that your hair grows like wildfire as a result of
1.The vitamins your taking.
2. The hormones, your body produces while your pregnant.
Unfortunately, the same hormones that are produced during pregnancy that aid in your hair growth can also be its downfall after you give birth.
Yeah! I know right!
When I was pregnant with my twins I found this out first hand. While I was pregnant with them my hair was growing like rapunzel’s and I was loving it.
Then all of a sudden 6 months after I had them and my hormones started settling down I noticed that my hair was thinning In certain areas.
Prior to this I had a thick head of hair and have always had a thick head of hair all my life. In fact, it was my pride and joy.
So imagine my surprise when I started noticing that my hair not only started thinning out but was also falling out in the middle of my head of all places, In unbelievable amounts.
Of course, because my hair had never fallen out like that before naturally, it scared the mess out of me.
I was mortified. With everything else I had to deal with as a mother the last thing I needed to be worried about was my hair falling out.
Needless to say, the damage was so bad I ended up cutting my hair.
Yup! chopped that bad boy down to almost nothing.
Talk about disappointed, that was an understatement.
So why did my hair start shedding?
I’m glad you asked.
1.Hormones
Hair shedding after childbirth is actually very common. The reason women’s hair shed after childbirth is due to a condition called Telogen effluvium.
Yes, it is an actual condition.
Telogen effluvium is the excess shedding of hair one to five months after pregnancy.
What causes this to happen?
Naturally, our hair goes through two main stages of growth.
1.The growth stage
2.The resting stage.
In the growth stage, the hair is actively growing. This is usually within a period of two to four years.
Then it goes into a resting stage for about two to four months, and then falls out and new hair is regenerated in its place.
Well during pregnancy, increased levels of estrogen cause a woman’s hair to go into a prolonged growth stage.
Which means that instead of your hair growing and shedding like it normally does. It sheds less and grows more.
As a result, you end up having less hair loss and thicker, fuller, healthier and longer hair.
The downside to that is that once you give birth the estrogen levels in your body begin to drop, causing more hair follicles to go into the resting stage.
Subsequently, causing some women to start losing hair usually after five months postpartum.
Even though this condition is very common not all women have dramatic changes in their hair during pregnancy or during the postpartum period. These changes are most often more obvious among women with longer hair.
2.Vitamin deficiency.
During pregnancy you are on prenatal vitamins and these vitamins help to supplement the extra nutritional demands that your body and your baby need.
After you have the baby though you usually stop taking the prenatal vitamins and if you are a nursing mom the baby is still pulling vital nutrients vitamins and minerals from your body.
If you are anything like me I couldn’t wait to stop taking them.
which wasn’t really a smart thing to do considering the fact that I was breastfeeding twins.
It’s hard enough to breastfeed one child, but to have two little babies nursing every hour on the hour at the same time definitely takes a tool on your vitamin reserves.
Unfortunately, when you stop taking the prenatal supplements it can cause you to become deficient in vitamins such as, vitamin D, iron and zinc, which contributes to hair loss causing your hair to fall out.
3.Stress
Last but not least. what mom is not stressed out during and after childbirth? I know I was. Although twins run in my family I never thought in a hundred years that I would have twins.
Initially when I was younger maybe ,but I had gotten past the hopes of having twins. I figured if I hadn’t had one after four children then maybe it wasn’t meant to be.
It was such a pleasant surprise when I found out ,but boy was it a big adjustment and a lot of work. especially considering the fact that I already had three little ones .
The downside to stress is that it causes your adrenal glands to produce larger than normal amounts of cortisol ( the stress hormone).
Unfortunately, these higher than normal levels of cortisol can also lead to postpartum hair loss among other things.
Fortunately, this condition is not permanent.
Thank God!!!!
You’re just going to have to be patient through this process.
How long does this process last?
I’m glad you asked.
This process usually, lasts about six to nine months from the time it starts.
Even though new hairs start growing right after the hair falls out, you won’t notice it for several months.
So, just be patient mama. This to shall pass.
Well, that’s it for now.
Have you experienced post postpartum hair loss?
Share your story in the comment section
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Till next time.
