One of the most frequently asked questions, for a hairdresser, is how will pregnancy affect my hair?
Most women will say that during pregnancy their hair felt amazing and thicker. Hair does not suddenly become thicker overnight. However, with pregnancy comes increased oestrogen levels in the body. This causes the hair follicles to produce less sebum (oil), so hair is dryer and appears fuller, thicker and bouncier but for some women, possibly with drier, thinner hair to start with, lack of sebum can make the hair very dry and unmanageable. Generally women will find that they may need to wash their hair less often during pregnancy as its less oily.
The above will happen almost immediately in your first trimester and then we get into your hair actually becoming thicker.
Hair grows in three stages, growing (anagen phase), resting (catagen phase), shedding (telogen phase). Each day we lose around 100 hairs, this is the normal natural cycle.
During the second & third trimester your hair will actually be thicker. Due to increased hormone levels hair will stay in the ‘anagen’ stage for a much longer period resulting in less hair fall. You don’t really lose that many hairs at all when you are pregnant. This will return to normal 3-6 months postpartum with the sudden drop of oestrogen.
With Oestrogen levels returning to normal, hair that was in the growing stage will go into the resting and shedding stage, resulting in hair fall. It will appear that your hair is falling out at a much quicker rate than usual, its actually just that a lot more hair has left the anagen phase and entered the telogen phase. Most women are alarmed by this but it is totally normal.
Looking after your hair during pregnancy
As you would your skin and health, take care of your hair during pregnancy and be aware of what ingredients you are using.
Wash with a ‘no nasties’ shampoo.
Condition with a moisturising conditioner to help with added dryness (due to lack of sebum)
Take care when brushing your hair and only use a wide tooth comb when wet.
Do not over dry your hair.
The WeKind brand is committed to looking after your hair during the months of pregnancy and beyond. Using natural ingredients combined with essential oils WeTwo aims to Nourish, Restore and Rebuild your hair.