Hair loss after birth

For a couple of months I have been losing rather scary amounts of hair. I thought it might be because I went on the pill, but my doctor thinks it might just be because of giving birth.

She has recommended that I stop breastfeeding (due to my equally scary weight loss - I'm down to a size 6 and falling) and go back on the origanal pill I was on (LoEstrin20), but I'm not happy about this and there's no way I'll stop breastfeeding. I'm trying to increase my calorie intake and have switched to full fat versions of things.

Anyway, back to hair loss, has anyone experienced this after giving birth? How long does it go on for?

Do you think I'm being silly to keep using the pill? The other thing she suggested was just to use condoms, but to be truthful I don't like them and no doubt I'll just end up pregnant instead! But part of me thinks I should just deal with the responsibility and stop using the easy option of the pill as I really think it may be affecting me, I've had a lot of spots since using it too.

Any opinions/advice would be really helpful!
Sarah x

Hi Sarah,

Sorry to hear of your predicament - I haven't experienced any of your problems myself so can't offer any direct advice but we have an article on the site about hair loss after birth - I have attached this above - I hope it helps!

I'm sure there are lots of TB members who will be willing to offer their advice too - good luck!

Monica x
(ThinkBaby Production)

hi sarah,

i noticed that you mentioned your losing quite a bit of weight, you may want to double check with your doctor that its not due to an overactive thyroid as i read the other day that this can be set off post pregnancy. signs include losing lots of weight, not sleeping much and feeling very energised all the time. hope this isnt the case for you though, i only read about it the other day, another thing to remember after aug!
best wishes
alix

Hi sarah

when i had harry within 2 months i had lost almost 4 stone, a very short time. i am also losing hair byt the clumpload and my son is six months. my doc told me its down to the combination of the birth and my new pill cerezette, which stopped my periods since my post natal bleeding stopped. he said not to worry about either and with time my body would adjust itself. i was also on loestrin 20, thats how i concieved my son. xxxxxx

My situation is pretty much exactly the same Kathy- I'm on cerezette too and krishan is 6 months. Thanks for passing on the reassurance from your doctor.

Thanks ali, I'll look into that as well as it sounds possible too.

And thanks for the article monica, I'll keep you all posted.

Sarah x

Hi sarah.
When I had my first son I lost loads of weight and went down to about 6st 12 (I am 5'7" and medium build so that was far too skinny for me)I also ended up having all my lovely long hair cut really short as I thought it would stop it falling out but it just made the bald patches even more apparent. I was on the mini pill after having ben but the doc said it was just a hormone imbalance. By the time Bn was 1 year my hair was back to normal and growing nicely but it took me years to get back up to 9.5 stone.
I have had my thyroid checked several times as my weight keeps falling dramatically since then and then rising but it is normal. However the hair thing has never happened since thank Goodness.
My Mam was a hair dresser for years and she said it happens all the time!
Hope this makes you feel better take care P xx

Hi Sarah,

My 4th son is now 6 months old after the birth of each baby(from around 3months old) I start to loose loads of hair. I'm not entirely sure it has anything to do with breast feeding (first son stopped feeding at 9wks, others at 11mnths and this one - who knows when).

You may have heard this before but when you are pregnant your hair loss slows rights down, skin looks healthy etc. (hence hair can appear thicker/fuller) So sometime after the birth your body starts to readjust itself back to normal - hair loss, if you had greasy skin/prone to spots they can return.

Unfortunately I never have the problem of loosing lots of weight quickly after the birth - probably because I eat like a horse when pregnant and gain 5st and I then takes 18mnths to shift it and by then I'm pregnant again! LOL

On a serious not though I hope you get to resolve your weightloss problem soon - I know it can be frustrating to keep a healthy weight.

Hope all goes well.

Bex