Mother&Baby Mar20

FEATURE NAME
Pack Mane ‘N Tail
Detangler (£7.99, superdrug.
com) in your hospital bag.
Giving birth can lead to extreme
bedhead hair, but this will take
care of the most stubborn
of knots!
During pregnancy you expect
to look and feel different –
after all, there’s a whole lot
of impressive stuff going on
inside you to help grow a
baby! But changes to your
hair can be a lot more unpredictable – you
may be blessed with the most voluminous,
shiny hair you’ve ever had, or experience
oiliness or a change in texture – all of which
are completely normal. ‘Pregnancy hair varies
from woman to woman,’ says trichologist
Anabel Kingsley. ‘Some pregnant ladies
experience lots of changes to their hair, while
others don’t notice anything at all. Hair can
even react differently in different pregnancies.
Just like pregnancy skin, sometimes it improves,
sometimes it doesn’t. Rest assured, though,
your hair will be back to your hair – possibly
with added perks – around a year after having
your baby.’ So, stay positive and remember:
there are ways of handling the changes so you
can experience lots more good hair days!
THE THICK OF IT
‘The most common hair change reported by
pregnant ladies is fuller locks,’ says Anabel.
‘But you’re not magically growing more hair
– this thickness happens because you’re losing
less hairs daily than you would normally. The
average person usually loses around 100 hairs
a day as part of the natural hair cycle. But
when you’re pregnant, increased oestrogen
levels, which soar during the first trimester
and continue into the other two, cause your
hair to sit in the growth phase of the hair
cycle for longer, so hair shedding is delayed.
This means you only lose around 20 hairs a
day.’ It’s this strand build-up that gives you
the appearance of thicker hair.
‘Some women are convinced their hair is
growing longer, too,’ says Anabel. ‘But strands
can only grow half an inch a month. So,
this is just a perceived concept thanks
to the thickness.’ This thickness
makes any hair style look
amazing, but you might need to
take smaller sections when
curling or straightening to
get good results. And, when
pinning your hair up,
double up and use grips
lapped over each other
across the grooves at each
end, for added support.
THINLY VEILED
At the other end of the
strand-scale, you may
experience hair loss – known as
shedding. While this is most likely
to occur post-baby, it can also strike
Colour
crisis?
Deciding whether
to colour your hair
when pregnant is a
personal choice.
Your scalp can be
more sensitive,
so an adverse
reaction could
happen even if
you’ve had
treatments for
years – do a patch
test first.
Whatever you
decide, once
you’ve had your
baby a trip to the
salon can help
your hair’s
appearance. ‘Visit
a good colourist
who won’t
over-process your
post-partum hair,’
advises Anabel.
‘Also work to
reduce the
contrast between
your scalp and hair
colours in order to
make hair appear
fuller when that
shedding starts.’
Little
fluffers
During the fourth trimester, as all those
old hairs start shedding on mass, new hairs
must grow. Which means baby hairs are pretty
much inevitable. ‘It’s actually when your hair
starts to grow back that you notice how much
you’ve lost,’ says Anabel. ‘You do lose hairs from
your crown, but it’s most noticeable around your
temples and above your ears, as you see these
areas daily. Ride these wispy bits out – your
baby is the reason why they are there,
it’s out of your control, and every
baby hair is one hair closer to
getting your former
locks back.’
Bump&Birth
during pregnancy. ‘Morning sickness can
contribute to shedding,’ explains Anabel.
‘Your hair needs nutrients to grow, but the
essentials go to your baby first. Gestational
diabetes, coming off the contraceptive pill, and
iron deficiency can also encourage shedding.
Stress plays a part, too, especially when the
shedding happens during the first trimester,
or very soon into the second. The loss is a
reflection of what happened three months
earlier – tying into the hair cycle – so if you
had a tough time getting pregnant or in the
early days, your hair can react.’
All these factors, and more, can contribute
to hair loss once you have your baby. ‘Postpartum
hair loss is reported to affect 50 per
cent of women,’ says Anabel. ‘However,
experts believe the figure is likely to be much
higher, given what women go through to get
their babies safely into the world. Then you
need to consider the sudden dip of oestrogen,
which happens after birth and takes effect on
your hair around three months afterwards –
or later if you’re breastfeeding.’ It kick-starts
your hair cycle into a more typical time frame,
so the shedding begins and it’s time to lose
the hairs you’ve been building up over the
previous nine months.
It’s frustrating, but it isn’t forever. ‘About
six months on, the shedding will go back to a
typical hair growth and loss cycle,’ reassures
Anabel. ‘Once your baby is here, or after you
finish breastfeeding, it’s time to support new
hairs as the increased shedding goes on.’ This
means eating the right foods packed with iron
– beetroot, spinach and steak are great – and
keeping to regular meals as much as possible.
Managing this stress, with the help of family
and friends, will allow your hair to grow back
stronger than ever – just like you.
And while you’re experiencing shedding,
you can make your hair feel thicker all over.
You gotta love a mum bun – try plaiting
your hair before you swirl it up into
the bun, pin it in place and then
pull at the sides of the plait to
add volume. Or curl your hair
in chunky sections – thinner
hair bends so much quicker
– to add width. It’s also
worth using Lee Stafford
Hair Growth Scalp
Scrub (£8.99, boots.
com) once or twice a
week, to help things along.
SHINY HAPPY HAIR
Another hair wild card is
how shiny your hair will
go during pregnancy. ‘Your
scalp produces less oils when
you’re pregnant, which means
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