With my last pregnancy I remember going back to work after three month and at around the same time my hair started to fall out. I felt like a shaggy dog who was malting everywhere. Not a great look particularly for my husband and the nanny who would find a trail of thick black hair wherever I went. This time round I am wondering if I am going to have the same experience. They say usual hair loss is around 100 hairs a day (it never feels that much) and that following pregnancy a woman loses up to 500 hairs a day!! I am almost at the 3 month mark (feeling so much better about the world), got the sling thing down a treat, the baby is happy and healthy (last week she weighed in at 12 lbs 9oz) and she is smiling at me (not quite on cue but hey that will happen too) and now I am waiting to see if the cautious hair cut I had a few weeks ago (fairly sensible layers to account for hair loss) is really necessary.

So what’s there to know about hair loss? The American Pregnancy Association writes, “Approximately 90% of your hair is growing at any one time, while the other 10% enters a resting phase. Every two to three months the resting hair falls out and allows new hair to grow in its place. Telogen effluvium is the excessive shedding of hair that occurs one to five months following pregnancy. This is not uncommon, affecting somewhere between 40 to 50% of women; but like most changes during pregnancy, it is temporary.

During pregnancy, the high estrogen levels keep your hair permanently stuck in the growth cycle. After delivery, the hormones return to normal levels, along with possibly lowered thryoid function, which allows the hair to fall out and return to the normal cycle. The normal hair loss that was delayed during pregnancy may fall out all at once. But don’t worry, you are not going to go bald.

Debra Waterhouse in her interesting book, “Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell - After Pregnancy” (I have just added it to my reading list) writes, “Until that glorious day when you see new hair growth (which may not be for another few months), eat nutritious foods, shampoo as infrequently as possible, use conditioner generously, let your hair dry naturally, postpone any perms or highlights, and get a really good haircut.

The American Pregnancy Association also writes you should supplement your diet with the following nutrients (in short, don’t stop taking your supplements ladies) to ensure you don’t lose hair due to nutrient deficiencies (this list seems to suggest meat, eggs, dark leafy greens, nuts and seeds and wheat germ):
Vitamin B complex
Biotin (Possibly safe; orally and appropriately)
Vitamin C
Vitamin E (Likely safe if amount does not exceed the RDA; possibly unsafe if it does) - I would be cautious about taking Vitamin E. Eating a tablespoon of wheatgerm is great to eat if you don’t want to take a Vit E supplement.
Zinc (Likely safe when used orally and appropriately; likely unsafe when used orally in high doses)

If your hair loss is causing anxiety or seems to be beyond what you might expect for this period, get in touch with your health care provider.

Email This Post - Subscribe to this feed - Save to del.icio.us -
April 19th, 2007 | Permalink