The natural cycle of hair has 5 stages, but lets keep it simple and say at any point in time, 90% of our hair is in a growing phase and 10% is a resting phase.

At the end of this resting phase the hairs then shed.

Normal hair shedding happens at a rate of 50-100 hairs a day.

This rate of shedding can be impacted by several factors –

Hormones, medications, radiation/chemotherapy, exposure to chemicals, nutrition, medical conditions and stress.

In pregnancy, estrogen causes more hairs to stay in the growing phase rather than entering the resting/shedding phase. It also stimulates the growth of your hair.

This is why some of us are lucky to have luscious locks with our growing bumps.

However once the baby is born and those estrogen level drops, all that hair that was held back in the growing stage for the last 9 mo then enters the resting/shedding phase at once… cue full hair brushes and clogged drains!

The peak of this hair loss occurs around 3-4 months, for most it stops by 9 months and you’ll start regrowing those hairs by bub’s 1st birthday, and by 2 you should have your pre-bub mane back (just in time to loose it all again if you’re having more babes!)

What can you do about it?

Unfortunately there is nothing that you can do to prevent this happening, so instead focus on keeping the hairs you have protected from damage, and ensuring good nutrition to encourage optimal regrowth.

What about supplements?

While it’s true that vitamins C, D, E,  magnesium, zinc, biotin, omega 3 and iron have roles to play in hair health (strength, thickness, shine), there is no strong evidence to support supplementing with these will help prevent or treat post partum hair loss.

As long as you are meeting your RDI’s with your diet (and don’t have any diagnosed deficiencies in vit D or iron) then it’s better to spend your pennies on a delicious balanced diet and volumising shampoo!

When to see a doctor?

If the hair loss persist beyond 12 mo

If you are noticing patches of loss rather than global thinning

If you have other associated symptoms – unexplained weight change, temperature intolerance, rashes, eyebrow loss, muscle/joint aches, acne or facial hair growth