How Can You Prevent Postpartum Hair Loss?

For new mothers, hair loss ranks right up there with the extra weight and the stress of caring for a newborn.
It starts with a few strands at a time, and in severe cases it can turn into real postpartum hair loss.
Here are the healthy habits that help prevent it.

Reporting by Lee Seung-mi | Photos: Magazine Plus DB | Expert commentary: Dr. Lee Moon-won, Specialist in Korean Medicine



What is postpartum hair loss?
During pregnancy, women actually shed less hair than they did before. The physical changes of pregnancy are thought to keep hair from falling out and let it keep growing.
Then, usually two to three months after delivery, hair starts coming out all at once, and many women notice an unusual amount in the shower or on the brush. That is what we call postpartum hair loss.

It usually continues until about six months after delivery, then the shedding slows and new hair grows in. This is a normal, common experience for women who have given birth.
Occasionally the shedding does not settle down until roughly a year after delivery, and only then does hair start growing back. If hair keeps falling out past that point, or never fills back in, it has become pathological postpartum hair loss.

Causes and prevention
Normal postpartum hair loss is a natural change most mothers go through, so there is no perfect way to prevent it. What you can do is reduce how much you lose and keep it from turning into the pathological kind.

The causes are the depletion of qi and blood from childbirth and their incomplete recovery afterward, the stress of caring for a newborn, shifts in female hormones, and the nutritional demands of breastfeeding. So it is important to take care of your body before and after pregnancy to replenish that qi and blood.

Dieting right before or after pregnancy is not a good idea, and any existing condition is best treated in advance. Scalp conditions such as seborrheic dermatitis or folliculitis in particular should be treated before you get pregnant. During pregnancy, eat well and keep stress down; after delivery, give your postpartum recovery real attention.

Many mothers focus only on eating less or exercising more to get their weight back down. That makes hair loss more likely, so improve your nutrition and take postpartum recovery seriously.
Herbal medicine is another good option, and taking mineral supplements along with natural vitamins can help prevent postpartum hair loss as well.

Managing and treating pathological postpartum hair loss



To recover quickly from pathological postpartum hair loss, nothing matters more than eating three good meals a day.
Enough sleep matters too, and it helps when your husband takes on some of the baby care so you can rest. Support and attention also make postpartum depression less likely. Adding foods like seaweed soup, tofu, fish and brown rice to your diet helps.
After delivery the scalp produces more oil and skin problems such as seborrheic dermatitis become more likely, so washing your hair about every other day is about right. Use a functional product if you can, and brushing daily with a wooden comb is another good habit.

If you already had hair loss before pregnancy, it is best to resume treatment about three months after delivery.
If you did not have hair loss before but your hair is still falling out at seven or eight months postpartum, or no new hair is coming in, that is the time to see a specialist.
Postpartum hair loss responds better to treatment than most other types, so with proper care the recovery is good.