Are Breastfeeding Moms Prone to Baldness?

Hair loss has always been perceived to be a very big problem predominant in men. However, hair loss is also experienced by women, especially ones who are breast-feeding; this is due to the change in their hormonal cycle. In most of the cases, the woman regains normal hair growth 6 to 12 months after childbirth.

If you recently had a baby and are a new mother, you may notice your hair falling at a pace which you might find rapid and irregular. However, this happens to all mothers due to a change in the production level of the hormone oestrogen. This is very normal and women need not panic since this case of hair loss is usually temporary. This would not lead to baldness and soon within 6 to 12 months after the child is born, the hair would enter a regular pattern of growth and fall.

To understand why this happens, you need to know about the normal hair growth pattern. In general, not 100% of the hairs on our scalp grow. About 85% of the hairs are in growing stage and the rest of the 10–15% are in the resting period. Once the resting period ends, the hair falls and the follicles then generate new growth of healthy hairs. Thus, it is quite normal for an average woman to lose 100 strands of hair daily. However, this pattern changes during pregnancy.

With pregnancy comes an increased level of oestrogen hormones. This increase upsets the normal growth pattern of hair present on the scalp. The growing period stretches and comparatively fewer strands of hair enter the resting period. Thus, the hair fall is reduced drastically on an average. As a result, the hair becomes thick during the pregnancy period. Once the child is born, the oestrogen level tumbles down drastically. This results in a reverse pattern that the hair follicles adopted during pregnancy.

While you feed your newborn baby, more hair follicles enter the resting period. Thus, as a result, more strands of hair are lost and your hair becomes thin. However, this is quite natural, and by the time the child grows and becomes a year old, your hair growth pattern returns to the normal routine and resumes growth.

There is nothing much a woman can do to fight back this hair loss because it is an attribute of the hormonal fluctuation in the body. While some women opt for hair thickening products that lend a fluffy look to their hairs, the others stick to taking a new short haircut.