When you are pregnant, a lot of changes take place in your body. The fluctuations of hormone levels in the body and increased amounts of oestrogen may mean that you find your hair becoming thicker and fuller whilst you are pregnant. However, hormonal changes may also cause your hair to fall out.
Most women who experience female hair loss at this time in their lives do so after they have given birth. After enjoying thick, healthy-looking hair throughout the pregnancy, the hair can start to fall out around three to six months after delivery.
Hair loss of this kind occurs because rising hormones during the pregnancy have caused more hairs (around 60 per cent) to enter the resting (telogen) phase.
Your hair shouldn’t fall out during pregnancy; it is only after you have given birth, when your hair growth cycle returns to normal, that hairs reach the end of the telogen phase and fall out. The normal levels of hair loss that were delayed during pregnancy may start to happen all at once.
This kind of hair loss is known to be temporary, with hair growth returning to normal within six months to a year.