Pregnancy is an amazing time in a woman’s life. It’s
exciting and new, for both the expecting mother and father even if they already
have kids. During pregnancy a woman’s body is a really a natural spring for
change. In the first trimester and second she will go through sickness and health
for the sake of her child. while pregnant a woman also goes through lots of
hormonal changes which will affect her mood and sometimes even appearance,
giving her a “pregnant glow”
We all have male and female hormones balanced out in our
bodies depending on our gender. Men have more androgens and testosterone and
women have estrogen and progesterone. Believe it or not it is the androgens
that are responsible for hair loss in humans –the male hormone- and oestrogen-
the female hormone- which protects the follicle, combating alopecia.
During pregnancy the high oestrogen levels in the woman's
body prevent the hair from moving into the telogen phase. For 9 months, they
remain locked in the growth phase. This is why many woman say their hair “grew
and grew and grew!” during their pregnancy. However During the re-establishment
of hormonal balance which occurs after giving birth, all these hairs enter the
telogen phase –the phase where hair falls out- which ends 2 or 3 months later
by their being shed en masse. This is also why MANY women believe the myth that
your hair falls our because of child birth. This is not true, your hair is
simply picking up where it left off now that everything is back to “normal”. So,
after you give birth the usual cycle then restarts and your head of hair
rapidly recovers its ordinary appearance.
To avoid unnecessary worry after you give birth, continue to take
pre-natal vitamins. Prenatal vitamins aren't significantly different from regular daily
multivitamins. They contain many of the same vitamins and minerals that you'd
find in a women's daily supplement pill, though the amounts of nutrients are
adjusted to meet the needs of pregnant women. In particular, prenatals contain
large quantities of iron and folic acid. Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz, in
their book "You: Having A Baby," explain that pregnant women need the
extra iron and folic acid in prenatal vitamins to provide for specialized
pregnancy needs. As opposed to seeing an abundance of shed hair you will see it
enters the telogen stag more slowly, allowing you to get used to your hair
again.
Remember to condition your hair regularly after giving birth and while
you are pregnant as well as trying to stay hydrated. Doing this will ensure
healthy looking hair all throughout your pregnancy and afterward.
Remember that after pregnancy your body will take time to go back to
normal so try not to stress over things like shedding. Its natural and bound to
happen
Our blog post Hair and Food has
lots of great tips and tricks on how to eat for healthy hair, check it out here!
I also want to let all you lovely people know that our Free hair and Graduation contest are still going on! All you have to do to enter is send/tweet/tag us in photos of you being free with your hair. This can be anything from you in front of your laptop to bouncing on a trampoline! simply use the contact links in the top right hand corner of the page to easily enter.
