Many women notice some level of hair thinning after having a baby. The amount of hair shed is pretty variable, but for some women it can be a significant amount of loss. The shedding tends to peak right around 4 months after delivery, but the good news is this type of hair loss is not permanent. Falling estrogen levels are the culprit for post partem hair loss and the changing hormone levels cause healthy hair to be “shocked” into shedding phases. The hair then returns to growth phases over the following few months. Usually by about a year after having a baby, a woman’s hair has returned to its previous thickness.
So what can be done to prevent it? For a long time, recommendations like eating healthy and taking vitamins were the only recommendations to try to combat post partum loss. Since the development of hair injections like PRP (platelet rich plasma), there is another treatment option. PRP acts almost like a fertilizer for the hair follicle by releasing growth factors right at the level of the follicle. This fertilizer helps to keep the hairs from shedding and can increase the speed at which hairs return after they have shed. PRP has given women a chance to get ahead of post partum hair and even acts as a treatment after the shedding has started.
