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Q: Does your hair grow thicker when you're pregnant?
A: Yes, it grows thicker (but not without a catch).
Published 20/09/2007
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Did your hair go crazy when you were pregnant? Did it fall out after the baby was born? Share your experience on the messageboard below.
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Many women happily note their hair is transformed to a crown of lustrous tresses when they're pregnant. But what makes the hair of an ordinary woman so special during pregnancy? Simple answer: hormones.
Each human hair has a life cycle – it grows, then rests, then falls out (or rather is pushed out by the new hair growing in the follicle). But during pregnancy this cycle changes.
When you're pregnant, oestrogen extends the hair growth cycle – hair stays in its resting phase longer and therefore remains in your head beyond its 'use-by date'. This is why women in the later stages of their pregnancy often have very thick hair says professor of dermatology Rodney Sinclair.
But what pregnancy hormones giveth, birth taketh away. Once the baby's born and the level of oestrogen drops back to normal, the hairs grown during pregnancy stop growing and remain dormant for a few months.
About three months after the baby is born, a woman starts to lose her extra hair (something new mums often put down to stress of life with a baby). Hair loss can vary from person to person but all new mums can expect to lose some hair.
So to all those gorgeous pregnant women out there: enjoy your lustrous locks while they last. And for those whose hair is shedding – fear not. Sinclair says hair loss usually only lasts for a few months and hair growth should be back to normal 12 months after birth.
Professor Rodney Sinclair is the director of dermatology at St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne, professor of Dermatology at the University of Melbourne and director of research and training at the Skin and Cancer Foundation. Professor Sinclair was interviewed by Claudine Ryan
Professor Rodney Sinclair is the director of dermatology at St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne, professor of Dermatology at the University of Melbourne and director of research and training at the Skin and Cancer Foundation.
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Comments (17)
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nataly fungle :
12 Aug 2008 2:50:47pm
i got very hairy when i was pregnant it hurt me so much it was so itchy!!!!
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Kathy :
17 Mar 2008 1:15:33pm
Am currently 38 weeks preggers and I find that my hair has stayed the same, thick, wavey and lets face it, it'll never change! Once I cut my hair short I've found that my hair is healthier than it was when longer and have noticed less hair loss. Its all in the genes!
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Jane :
02 Feb 2008 12:32:01pm
When I was preggers my hair was so beautiful. But after I had my baby the hair started falling out like crazy. It's been nearly 6 months, I feel nearly bald and it's still falling out.
What should I do? -
Jane :
25 Jan 2008 2:56:33pm
My hair was really curly then went straighter and lost a lot of hair with each child and never recovered.
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katie :
26 Nov 2007 11:26:56pm
i got horrible dark hair ALL OVER my tummy!
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ruth :
07 Oct 2007 9:39:36pm
I have given birth to 4 children, and after each one lost a lot of hair. Unfortunately, I hadn't been aware of having had lovely lustrous locks (as your article so invitingly called them), but boy, my hair fell out by the handful, especially in a line around the front. So then I had a saggy belly, leaking chest, and a receding hairline (as if my confidence wasn't already shot!). By the time each baby was about one year old, I had always grown a thick "fringe" of new hair about half an inch long sticking straight out under my hair at the front. That first year was always a "bad hair year".
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Angela :
02 Oct 2007 11:53:12am
I didnt notice a change in the amount of hair personally, what i noticed is i had straight hair which turned into wavy fly away hair....(not happy!!)my hairdresser sais it will change again durin menopause so i guess that its a hormonal thing!!nobody has mentioned the increase in body hair...my friend didnt touch her "snail trail"(navel down!)and it fell out after her child was born, but i impatiently shaved mine and its never gone away!!
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Anna-Maria :
25 Sep 2007 2:05:36pm
My hair started falling out in clumps when I was around 2 months pregnant. I actually had to get the plumber in to unblock the shower drain which was full of my hair. My daughter is 8 months old and my hair only stopped falling out when she was around 6 months. I had very thick hair pre-pregnancy - alas, no more!
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annie :
25 Sep 2007 11:40:17am
when i was pregnant with joey my hair fell out and didn't grow back ,
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Johanne :
22 Sep 2007 8:54:18pm
My hair changed colour with my first pregnancy. It changed from blonde to mouse and never changed back.
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Susan :
21 Sep 2007 12:51:49pm
What happens to womens hair during the perimenopause and the menopause?
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Barbara S :
21 Sep 2007 8:25:12am
In 1960, in Sydney, with long shiny curly hair, my Dr advised that I was pregnant and should have my hair cut short to enable the goodness that was making my hair look so great could be channelled to my growing baby. I did, and we had a beautiful, healthy baby girl the following year. My hair still looked good - but short and shiny and curly - but I must admit I didn't feel as tired once I had the hair cut!
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rebecca darcy :
01 Nov 2007 9:43:34am
my hair didnt fall out mine stayed the same through the pregnancy even after i had my child!!!!
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Emma :
03 Mar 2008 2:22:09pm
Nice story but that really doesn't make sense. Your hair is essentially dead - it contains no living tissue. A person with super long hair requires no more 'hair-growing' nutrients than a person with short hair.
In other words, your hair grows at more of less the same rate no matter what its length.
Maybe the reason you felt less tired was because you didn't have a long mane of hair to contend with every day!
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