As your maturity draws near, you’re probably looking forward to losing your big belly and additional baby weight.

But there’s one thing you’ll not anticipate to losing: Your thick, shiny pregnancy locks.

It’s not your imagination. most girls find that pregnancy makes their hair thicker. And it’s not the strain of getting a newborn that’s making your hair fall out! Here’s what’s up together with your pregnancy hair, what you’ll expect postpartum, and what you’ll do about it.

How your hormones change during pregnancy and postpartum

During pregnancy, your hormones change dramatically.

One of the primary spikes is human chorionic gonadotropin or hCG. That’s the hormone your bioassay measured and its rising levels indicated that you simply were pregnant. Pregnancy also causes several other hormone levels to rise, including estrogen, progesterone, oxytocin, and prolactin. Your blood volume also rose during pregnancy, to the maximum amount as 50 percent greater volume than normal by your maturity.

Immediately after your baby is born, several of your hormone levels drop quickly, including estrogen and progesterone. Those hormones are going to be almost back to normal levels within 24 hours after birth, although prolactin will stay high as long as you’re breast-feeding.

Your blood volume also decreases, but its drop is more gradual. It gets back to normal a couple of weeks after your baby arrives.

How hormones affect your hair

Hormones are the most important reason for your pregnancy hair changes and postpartum hair loss.

During pregnancy, your high levels of estrogen prevented your usual rate of hair loss. Normally, your hair falls call at small amounts a day . During pregnancy, your hair loss decreases. The effect is compounded by your increased blood volume and circulation, which also causes your hair to fall out but normal.

So after your baby arrives and your hormone levels drop, your hair makes up for lost time by rupture in much bigger clumps than it normally does. the entire volume of your hair loss probably isn’t quite you’d have lost over the last nine months, it just looks like it because it’s happening all directly .

Postpartum hair loss can set in any day after your baby arrives, and it sometimes continues as long as a year. it always peaks round the 4-month mark, so if your baby may be a few months old and you’re still losing clumps of hair, that doesn’t mean it’s time to panic!

Postpartum hair treatments to undertake

It’s normal for your hair to thin out after pregnancy. If it’s not worrying you, you don’t get to do anything to treat it. And, unfortunately, there’s nothing that has been shown to stop or slow postpartum hair loss. But if your hair loss is bothering you, there are treatments you’ll attempt to make your hair appear fuller and healthier.

1. Skip the styling

Heating your hair with a dryer or home appliance may make it look thinner. attempt to hold off on fancy styling and let your hair air-dry till the thinning tapers out.

Brushing too hard also can cause your hair to fall call at bigger clumps, so be gentle when brushing and don’t brush quite once each day. you’ll use the additional time to cuddle your baby or catch abreast of sleep!

2. Eat well

Including a spread of fruits, vegetables, and healthy proteins in your diet is that the best thanks to confirming your body are getting all the nutrients it needs.

Foods that are suggested by some to enhance hair health include dark leafy greens (for the iron and vitamin C), sweet potatoes and carrots (for the beta carotene), eggs (for the vitamin D), and fish (for omega-3s and magnesium).

3. Take your vitamins

Vitamins shouldn’t be a substitute for a varied diet, especially when you’re a replacement mom with a baby to require care of. But they’ll help as a supplement if your diet isn’t well-balanced. While no specific vitamins are shown to affect hair loss, they’re important for overall health. it’s often recommended to continue your prenatal vitamins after your baby is born, especially if you’re breast-feeding.

4. Use a volumizing shampoo

While there’s no evidence for it, conditioning shampoos sometimes weigh your hair down and make it look thinner and limper. Volumizers may add body to your hair and assist you to maintain a lustrous look.

Is your postpartum hair loss normal?

In most cases, your postpartum hair loss is completely normal and nothing to stress about.

If you’re still seeing clumps in your hairbrush after your baby hits their 1st birthday, you’ll want to speak to a dermatologist to form sure there isn’t a further cause for your hair loss.