When does postpartum hair loss start?

Usually two to five months after delivery, and the heavy shedding typically lasts six to twelve weeks.

Will my hair go back to normal?

In most cases yes, generally by around the baby's first birthday, though the new hair has to grow the full length again.

Can breastfeeding cause hair loss?

Breastfeeding does not cause the shedding. The trigger is the drop in pregnancy hormones after delivery, which happens whether or not you breastfeed.

Why it happens

Postpartum hair loss

Somewhere between two and five months after giving birth, a lot of women find hair coming out in the shower in quantities that feel wrong. It is the most common hair-loss question we are asked, and in almost every case the answer is the same: this is normal, it stops on its own, and nothing you did caused it.

Why it happens

During pregnancy, high oestrogen keeps hair in its growing phase far longer than usual. Hair that would normally have shed simply stays. That is the pregnancy thickness people notice and enjoy.

After delivery, hormones drop and all that retained hair moves into the resting phase together. Two to three months later it releases together too. You are not losing more hair than you should — you are losing several months of shedding in a few weeks.

What it looks like

Handfuls in the shower and on the pillow, most obviously around the hairline and temples. It is diffuse, meaning thinner all over rather than in patches. Heavy shedding usually runs six to twelve weeks and settles by about the baby’s first birthday.

The short upright hairs along your hairline a few months later are not breakage. They are the regrowth, and they are a good sign.

What actually helps

Time, mostly. Beyond that: eat properly, which is genuinely difficult with a newborn; ask a doctor to check iron and thyroid, because pregnancy depletes iron and postpartum thyroid changes are common and treatable; and be gentle — loose ties, no tight buns, no chemical services during the heavy weeks.

Be sceptical of anything marketed as a postpartum hair rescue. Your hair was going to recover anyway, which makes month five a very easy time to sell you something.

When it is not just postpartum shedding

Ask a doctor if the shedding is still heavy beyond a year, if the hair comes out in round smooth patches, if your parting is visibly widening rather than recovering, or if you also feel exhausted, cold, low or unusually anxious. Postpartum thyroiditis and postpartum depression both deserve real attention and both are treatable.

Hair loss after birth is common. Feeling distressed about it is also common, and it is not vanity.