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Normal Hair Loss After Pregnancy

Hair loss after pregnancy is a common occurrence.  For first time mothers, it can be stressful if they do not understand that hair loss is common condition, experienced by many women.  The distressing effects of hair loss after pregnancy can be lessened if a woman is informed about the potential for this temporary condition. 

The appearance of a woman is enhanced during her pregnancy.  A woman’s appearance is enhanced through the vibrant quality of her skin and her thicker hair.  The enhancing effects of the extra hormones coursing through a woman’s pregnant body have caused many people to remark on the beauty of pregnant women. 

Effects Of Higher Levels Of Estrogenic Hormones On Hair

The levels of the estrogenic hormones are at higher levels than when a woman is not pregnant.  These high levels of hormones are necessary to help a woman’s body provide for the needs of the growing baby in her womb.  These estrogenic hormones cause a pregnant woman’s hair to remain on her scalp longer than usual. 

In the normal process of hair loss, 90% of hair is in a growth stage.  The other 10% is in a resting stage.  Hair remains in a resting stage for about three months.  It falls out and a new hair grows in the same spot. 

During pregnancy, the estrogenic hormones slow down the hair growth process.  In this way, less hair enters the resting stage.  In addition, new hair continues to grow as part of the normal hair growth cycle.  These two facts, older hair that is not falling out and the growing new hair, mean that there is more hair on the head. 

After The Baby Is Born

After the baby is born, the estrogenic hormone levels in the woman’s body go back down to their normal levels.  It takes about three months for this process to occur.  The time length can vary, but if hair loss is going to occur, it will happen at the end of about three months after the baby is born. 

Some women may experience more hair loss after pregnancy than other women.  Some women do not lose much or any hair.  For some women, the hair can fall out in little clumps, which can be distressing. 

It will take another three months for the hair that has been lost to grow back.  For a time, among the hair that is growing back, there may be shorter hair than long hair in a growth stage.  Depending on how much hair was lost, this may feel like longer than three months.  It can take up to a year before a woman’s hair is back to its pre-pregnancy fullness, depending on how much hair was lost after childbirth. 

Hair loss after pregnancy is normal and if a pregnant woman prepares for possible hair loss after childbirth, the effects will not be as surprising.  It is even possible to prepare for hair loss after pregnancy if a woman thinks that it may happen to her.