Postpartum Alopecia

During pregnancy the hair growth cycle can be disrupted by hormonal activity. Many more follicles than usual begin the growth phase of the hair growth cycle at the same time and many women feel that their hair improves during pregnancy. This of course means that the hairs produced also reach the shedding stage at the same time, so many women, a month or two after they give birth, begin to notice more hairs in their brush. The hair loss is diffuse, that is there is a general thinning over the whole scalp, rather than loss in one place. In most cases this is a temporary matter that will right itself once hormone levels return to normal.  However, hair growth is a slow process, so it may be some time before hair growth is back to pre-pregnancy levels. Loss should not be excessive and if it seems so it would be a good idea to consult a doctor who can eliminate other causes such as fungal infections, diabetes and hypothyroidism.

As a general rule the more babies that are produced the thinner the hair may become, but this could also be just because a woman who has had many babies is almost always older than the woman who has had only one. The subject of postpartum alopecia has been studied, but usually only with small samples and as the matter rights itself so quickly, more money spent on extensive research is probably not justified, but it seems that the increased oestrogen levels in pregnancy also mean that hair remains longer in the growth stage before shedding, so not only is more grown, more remains on the scalp. Some women believe that pre-pregnancy pills that they have taken are the reason for the improvement and this has led to balding men taking such pills, but they are really only vitamin pills and wouldn’t have such results, but there is no hair growth related to taking such pills.