Postpartum University® Podcast

The Truth About Postpartum Hair Loss

September 26, 2021 Maranda Bower, Postpartum Bliss Coach  Episode 27
Postpartum University® Podcast
The Truth About Postpartum Hair Loss
Show Notes Transcript

For full show notes go to https://marandabower.com/the-truth-about-postpartum-hair-loss-ep27/

Postpartum hair loss has been deemed as a “normal” thing to expect after having a baby. Typically chalked up to hormonal changes, but the question remains, is hair loss during postpartum normal? 

With so many women experiencing hair loss during postpartum, which leads to so many other questions. We need to know why this is happening, and if there is anything we can be doing to prevent it.

Listen in to learn how to simply heal, and stop the hair loss in postpartum.


In this episode, I’m sharing:

  • Postpartum hair loss
  • Is it normal or not?
  • How to stop it
  • Postpartum hair loss is called postpartum alopecia
  • Hair loss it's your body way of  letting you know that something is happening within that needs to be addressed
  • Why does this happen?
  • Estrogen changes and the effects on your body
  • The body isn't a bunch of little pieces, it's a fluid evolving organism with many parts that work together as a whole
  • Hair loss outside of postpartum is considered a big deal
  • Automatic adjustment period
  • Childbirth creates an intense change within the body
  • Lack of nutrients
  • Listening to your body and its needs
  • How to stop your hair loss
  • Addressing your nutrition
  • Herbal teas & benefits of drinking them
  • Addressing your stress levels
  • Ask for help
  • Practice self-care
  • Importance of sleep
  • You have so much control over your experience to heal
  • Root cause care


- If you'd like to work with me, or need support, reach out here!        https://marandabower.com/contact/

-Purchase my Nutrition Program 

 https://marandabower.com/nutrition/

-Sign up for The Postpartum Nutrition Certification Program

https://marandabower.com/certification/


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Feeling inspired and ready to learn more about how you can actively revolutionize postpartum care?

We all get it: postpartum and the years after having a baby is no walk in the park. But, you know what? It isn't just about depression or anxiety either. Hey, my friend, I'm Maranda Bower, homesteading mama with four wild kids, whose life passion and education is all about supporting mothers and providers in understanding the science, the art, and the sacredness of healing after birth. What we know as common sense in the postpartum years has many women feeling just plain awful. It's time to bring back the truth. Get you the tools you need to heal and thrive in motherhood and beyond.

Hello, welcome to the Postpartum Circle podcast. I'm Maranda Bower, and we are talking about postpartum hair loss. It seems to be a topic in question for nearly every single mama who has a baby, and I'm often asked questions about whether it's normal. When is it too much hair loss? Is there anything wrong with me? Really, the question everyone wants to know is, how do I stop it? Any kind of hair loss can feel like a massive blow.

It feels terrifying, worrisome, and just plain not okay. And for many of us, our hair has personal meaning; it has cultural meaning. It gives us certain feel-good emotions that contribute to our identity and our self-esteem. Which makes it even that much more impactful when we're recovering in the months postpartum, when we're discovering who we are as a mother. No matter how many children you have, this discovering or rediscovering will always be a part of your journey.

So, couple this with identity changes, body changes, emotional changes, and then hair loss, and you have a recipe for panic. So, we get it, especially for those of us who've experienced hair loss or even major hair changes, which we'll talk about shortly. Postpartum hair loss simply feels awful. And considering how common it is, I'm guessing you completely understand what I'm sharing with you.

But let's also be serious and acknowledge that when there is hair loss, it's our body's way of letting us know that something is off. And our body is responding accordingly; our body's giving us a warning sign. It's saying, "Hey, something's up. Can you pay attention to me, please?" Meaning that if you have a moment of worry or stress, feelings that something is not right... Maybe, just maybe, you're absolutely right about your body. And I say that cheekily because I firmly believe that we as women, and as a community of women, we know more about our bodies than science does. But that is really a different podcast show.

Okay, so let's nail down some facts for you. Postpartum hair loss is called postpartum alopecia. And it generally happens around three to four months postpartum and it lasts upwards of six months, according to research. The tendency is to blame the hormones, as, you know, it's pretty routine to do so. And it is to a certain point. But the key point here that we need to address is that if you are experiencing major hair loss, it's your body letting you know that something is happening within that needs to be addressed.

My friend, if you are losing a lot of hair, it is absolutely common, but that doesn't necessarily make it normal. And your feelings are right. But I want to tell you why, and then leave you on a really high note because the fix is better and easier than you probably think. The question I want to answer for you first is, why is this happening? Generally speaking, when you increase estrogen during pregnancy, you retain more hair in the months of growing a human, right? Then, in postpartum, your estrogen levels drop, and you experience hair loss. This is exactly why so many claim this to be just a normal hormonal thing.

Going into this conversation deeper, I'm going to first say that what I'm about to share with you is what we're often told. This is what you hear in the mainstream about postpartum hair loss. And obviously, I'm not 100% convinced, as I will plan to share with you at length here in the podcast. So, here's what we're often told: Pregnancy changes the normal hair cycle phases. Every strand of hair has its own pattern of growth, rest, and loss, followed by new growth. And when you get pregnant, that pattern is interrupted by hormones, causing most of your hair to be in a state of growth.

Higher estrogen simply causes more growth, meaning in pregnancy, many women typically have thicker, more robust hair. But this also means that the hair follicles generally enter the phase of falling out around the same time in postpartum, generally around the three to four month mark. The falling out phase occurs because of the drop of estrogen from having our baby leave our body and no longer being pregnant. And then these other hormones that all have originally contributed to hair growth are now leaving our body. We have to look at the phases of hair follicles.

The growth phase of hair generally lasts between two to seven years before it enters the phase of detaching and leaving your scalp for good. Hair loss doesn't normally start at the drop of estrogen because that drop signals the next phase of hair growth, which is actually a three to four month resting period before it detaches and you experience hair loss. So, this essentially, all of this to say, that fits with the cycle of postpartum hair loss beginning around the three to four months post baby, right? So, all of this makes absolute perfect sense.

But here's some other things to consider as well. Loss of estrogen in menopause is often associated with hair loss. Estrogen is in fact related to hair growth and loss. That's a complete fact. But we know that hormonal therapy containing estrogen for menopausal women actually can add to additional hair loss and sometimes creates hair growth in the wrong places. And hormonal birth controls, which contain estrogen among others, create the illusion in your body that you're pregnant, right? By your hormones mimicking that of you being pregnant, your body does not get pregnant, right? So you would think that if estrogen and pregnancy hormones were responsible for hair growth, that by using hormonal birth control, we'd also see hair growth.

But the opposite is actually true. What we find is that hormonal birth control is actually associated with major hair loss. So, is estrogen really the culprit here? And I'm sure it plays a role in this story. But I think it's really important to understand that the body doesn't operate in pieces. Just like when we talk about postpartum depression, we can't have a conversation about the brain and hormones without also talking about gut health and more. Because the body isn't a bunch of little pieces or little hormones. It's a fluid, evolving organism with many parts that work together as a whole. Meaning that we can't just say, "Oh, it's estrogen's fault," because it's really only one thing.

And when that one thing meets other important components like nutrition, depletion, stress, trauma, gut imbalances, and so on, then we have a recipe for hair loss. And we also need to look at the instances of all the common diagnoses within the postpartum months and years, where hair loss is a symptom. Let's look at one in seven women who are diagnosed with a thyroid disorder or one in eight who are diagnosed with PCOS. And we know that in the first year postpartum, you are at a 30% increased risk of developing an autoimmune disorder. Again, many of those have hair loss as a symptom of that disorder.

And as a matter of fact, when hair loss is occurring at any other time in life outside of postpartum, it's considered a big deal. But in postpartum, it's just a casual, no big deal event. It's like, oh, it's just your hormones, everything you've got going on is totally normal, no big deal, right? And that's simply hogwash. So rather than chalk all this up to hormones, I'm going to explain why you are really experiencing hair loss and what you want to do about it to significantly change your experience and support your body in ways it's asking you to.

So first, let's address your actual birth experience. Giving birth is a major transition for the body. In the grand scheme of things, labor and birth is a high-intensity change in a very short period of time, which equates to something we call in my postpartum nutrition certification program as an automatic adjustment period. Really, it's trauma on the body. But I like to better reserve the word trauma for the 30% plus women who experience a very negative birth experience, especially here in the United States. Some areas are significantly higher than that. And just a moment of acknowledgment for you all who've been here before. But really, this period of adjustment, as I'm speaking of, represents an intense change within the body. And the body categorizes it as a very high-stress event.

So a high-stress event can contribute and really trigger the shift in hair follicle cycles, making you experience loss. The greater the intensity of the birth experience, meaning if there were trauma in the truest sense of the word, or if there were interventions, or a really long length of labor, or you viewed your birth as incredibly challenging, you will most likely experience greater hair loss due to the increase in stress. And then there are cytokines, and I speak on this in episode 14 when we talk about the role of chronic inflammation in postpartum.

Cytokines are released into the bloodstream and are signals that the body is under inflammation and needs attention, and it could be due to high stress in the body. We know that stress on any level can cause cytokines to be released into the bloodstream and signal this inflammation within the body. But it also can happen from things like lack of sleep and lack of nutrients, ongoing unaddressed trauma, which changes the nervous system function and underlying conditions. So all of that can play a role in this.

And speaking of underlying conditions, let's expand on that. As I mentioned before, postpartum is a period of high risk when it comes to autoimmune concerns, not to mention mental health concerns. And if you've been listening to this podcast for a bit, you know that one of the most fundamental roots to maternal mental health concerns and the development of autoimmune issues is the lack of nutrients. We know without a shadow of a doubt that many are deficient in iron and zinc and vitamin B, and B vitamins in general, deficient of iodine, and so many others. And all of those are directly linked to mental health challenges, autoimmune issues, and you guessed it, hair loss.

So if you are yelling at me right now and saying, "But I really eat healthy," "I don't have depression and anxiety," or a host of other mental health concerns, no autoimmune diseases or issues, and I'm still having my hair fall out, I'm gonna tell you that I completely get it. Just because there is a correlation here, doesn't in any way, shape, form, or fashion mean that you are going to have one of these. As a matter of fact, there has been no scientific links between hair loss as a sign of greater issues to come, and that science just simply doesn't exist right now. It hasn't been done. But what I am simply pointing out to you is that your body is giving you messages that there is some change that needs to happen for you, so that you can either hop on a path of wellness or you can continue your path of wellness.

With note for you, my friend, my postpartum nutrition certification program is opening, and if you feel called to support women at this deep, fundamental level and truly address the root of postpartum depression, anxiety, and postpartum autoimmune disease, then join this group of thought leaders and community builders in this upcoming cohort. You can learn more at www.marandabower.com/certification.

And just a hot minute on eating healthy, because what we often are told about postpartum healthy eating is an extension of breastfeeding rather than a look at actual physiological changes that take place in the months after birth, meaning that salads, smoothies, and even cheesy casseroles are not healthy postpartum foods. They actually contribute to depletion and give rise to those cytokines I was mentioning earlier. And this is because in postpartum, the normal biological response to birth is a lack of enzymes and gastric acids to break down your food. So when you eat dense meals or those salads and smoothies, you are unable to break that down easily so that you can absorb those amazing nutrients. Without absorption, no matter how well you think you eat, you get nothing in the deal.

And depletion symptoms such as depression, anxiety, exhaustion, and hair loss come in full fruition here. And if you haven't heard me talk on this topic before, if you're new here, I explain the normal physiological changes of postpartum digestion and the spiral of health when we experience depletion and what to do about that in episode 8. Really, many of these changes are brought on by the overall changes in your hormones, but the root is not your hormones. The root of postpartum hair loss is lack of sleep, depletion of nutrition, and lack of support and stress, all of which, by the way, control hormones. You have a great deal of control over your hormones, even in postpartum. Many of us are not victims of hormones, and the current medical system will have you believing otherwise, but the fact remains that your hormones are controlled by your sleep, your nutrition, and your stress. And your stress in the form of negative self-talk, lack of support, trauma, life stressors, those are all very much included.

And before I forget, let's quickly chat about hair texture changes. Changes in hair texture are also a very common complaint in postpartum, and maybe you had straight hair that became more curly, or you have a tendency to be dry, but experience more oiliness in your scalp, or maybe you're experiencing that out-of-control frizz and breakage. Again, the mainstream's reasoning for this is simply pointing in the direction of hormones, but not much has been studied here in the least bit. There's hardly any evidence that supports this. We just make the assumptions here. We may have to switch up to more natural hair products and routines free of harmful chemicals and heat to really ensure our hair's protection.

If you are experiencing dryness, you can use oils like coconut or olive oil, and those feel really good. If you're super oily, address your diet, which I'm going to share next, and be sure you are washing with a natural soap that won't damage your hair and strip your hair of those essential oils that it needs. I know that the rest of your body is going through lots of changes, and just know that some of this can be expected. In quick summary here, listen to your body. If you feel you are losing a lot of hair and you're concerned, listen in, ask questions, make some changes that support better health for you. Does postpartum hair loss mean you're going to have problems later down the road? The answer doesn't really exist, but we do know that you can make some basic changes that will help you feel better, not only with your hair, but with your life as a whole. Let's switch the conversation and talk about what we can do to stop hair loss.

First and foremost, address your nutrition, address your depletion. I always recommend no dairy, no gluten, because those cytokines that cause inflammation are something that you are going to be really, really concerned with when it comes to dairy and gluten. Those are foods that we know cause inflammation, not only with ourselves but also with babies. We want to make sure that that is not present in our diets, so we get the best absorption, and we don't experience inflammation in any way, shape, form, or fashion. We also want to do minimal sugar, because we know sugar also increases inflammation and lowers our immune system.

So a diet that's high in fats, high in iron, vitamin Bs, which all are typically depleted with pregnancy and birth, and also with birth control use, so just keep that in mind. And then also zinc, which is very important. So eating a variety of easily digestible foods like soups, stews, broth, lots of meats and egg and fish, all of this in broth and veggies, cook it together in ways that your body doesn't have to exert extra energy, and you can digest these foods easier. And I promise you, when you eat in this way, it will be a game changer for you. Herbal tea is also a go-to for me and my clients.

Some of my favorite herbs that you just can't go wrong with in postpartum, meaning they are safe with breastfeeding and effective, and they're packed with a powerful punch of energy. They're super easy to digest and get you all of those nutrient-rich nutrients and minerals that you need and really just help you with overall function. Some of those that are my favorite are oat straw, red raspberry leaf, stinging nettle, red clover, and comfrey leaf. And the next thing that you really, really want to make sure you address is your stress levels.

I will tell you, sometimes asking for help can be one of the hardest things we do, but it will be a really big change for your hair loss. Delegate where you need to, practice self-care, and if you experienced trauma in any form, in pregnancy, in childbirth, or in postpartum, you want to make sure you are addressing that. That shifts your entire nervous system and the way your body functions, and you operate in a place of high stress 24/7.

It's absolutely exhausting. Exhausting. It depletes you of key nutrients, and it must be addressed. And then, of course, sleep. If you are not sleeping, and you guys, I totally get it, sleep with children, I have four, can be really, really hard. But this is where we go in and we ask for help. This is where we delegate. This is where we seek other support systems to help us and really help our baby too.

And so if you're not getting enough sleep, try everything you can to find a system that works for the entire family, not just works for everyone except you. And I want to make a quick note here. While it may be tempting to buy hair growth products for postpartum hair loss, they usually contain chemicals that in studies lead to hormone imbalance, skin diseases, smaller placentas in pregnant women, cancer, and so much more. So do your best to avoid things like that. Stick with the root of all of this.

So in this episode, if this resonates deeply with you, I am so, so grateful. If you take only one thing away from this, let it be that your feelings and concerns for your body are valid and that you have so much control over your experience to heal. And although hormones can feel like an invisible alien that just kind of digs over our body, you have the ability to kick it in order through root cause care. And root cause care is simply the root of life and well-being. That's nutrition, sleep, and support. Thanks for tuning in and taking the time to learn about how to support your body and deep healing.

We don't do this work just for us or for you. Your healing impacts your children, your relationships, and your community. We do this work because the health and vibrancy of our world begins with its mothers. I hope you have taken some valuable information today and applied it to your own life. If you aren't sure where to begin, reach out about working together one-on-one or at minimum learning about my postpartum nutrition plan, which is where I start every single one of my clients. And you can do that by going to MarandaBower.com. Hope you enjoyed this episode. Let us know by leaving a review and we will see you next time.