Hair loss during pregnancy: understanding shedding and choosing suitable care

Is shedding an expected pregnancy change?

Hair follicles do not all produce hair at the same time. Each passes through growth, transition and resting stages before the hair is released. Pregnancy can alter the balance between those stages. Having a greater proportion of growing hairs may make the hair appear fuller, without any new follicles being formed.

Gizlenti and Ekmekci compared hair measurements in 116 women divided between different stages of pregnancy and the period following childbirth. Their findings included differences between the pregnancy groups and the group assessed four months after delivery. This comparison cannot predict an individual woman’s experience or establish that everyone sheds less hair throughout the entire nine months.

Understanding the hair growth cycle also explains why a visible change may follow an earlier event. A process that began several weeks ago can become noticeable only later. Your hair cannot therefore tell you when conception occurred, reveal your baby’s sex or provide a reliable assessment of the baby’s development.

Are you noticing shedding, breakage or gradual thinning?

Shedding involves hairs coming away from the scalp. It may be spread across the head, with more hairs appearing in a brush or during washing. What you see also depends on hair length and how often you shampoo. One unusually large collection of hairs does not, by itself, show how serious the problem is.

Breakage happens along the hair shaft. Uneven lengths may become noticeable after tight hairstyles, repeated handling or harsh hair care. Breakage and shedding can occur together, but they do not necessarily call for the same advice. Looking closely at a single hair at home cannot replace an assessment of the scalp and the overall pattern.

A gradually widening parting, localised recession or a clearly defined bald patch represents a different pattern. Alopecia covers several conditions rather than one particular cause. Note where the change begins and whether it was present before pregnancy. That information is more useful at an appointment than comparing yourself with photographs of somebody else’s hair.

Which causes may need investigation during pregnancy?

A significant physical or emotional event, an illness with fever or a change in food intake can disturb the hair cycle. With telogen effluvium, increased shedding becomes apparent after a delay. This is one possible explanation, but it should not be used to blame every change on stress or dismiss hair loss that is getting worse.

Nausea, vomiting and dietary restrictions can make it harder to meet nutritional needs. Iron deficiency or anaemia may contribute, although shedding alone does not establish either diagnosis. Antenatal care and, where appropriate, targeted blood tests help distinguish an actual deficiency from a concern based only on the appearance of your hair.

Thyroid disease is another possibility to consider when the history or symptoms suggest it. Unusual fatigue, marked sensitivity to cold or heat, palpitations or constipation can help guide the discussion. The relationship between thyroid problems and hair loss needs clinical assessment because these symptoms are not specific to a thyroid condition.

Other causes may already have been present before conception or develop at the same time: scalp inflammation, traction, certain illnesses or the effects of medicines. Tell your clinician about any medication that was recently started, stopped or changed. Do not stop prescribed treatment in an attempt to stop shedding; the reason for taking it and any alternatives need to be reviewed with the prescriber.

When should you seek medical advice?

A sustained increase in shedding is worth discussing during antenatal care, even when the scalp looks normal. Explain whether the overall density seems different, whether your parting is widening and how the change is affecting you. You do not have to reach a particular daily hair count before asking for an assessment or advice.

Arrange a more prompt review if you develop bald patches, substantial progression, scalp pain, redness, marked scaling or lesions. These findings should not be attributed to pregnancy without examination. Loss of eyebrow hair or hair elsewhere is also something to report, rather than a reason to select a treatment on your own.

Describe any wider symptoms and difficulty eating or keeping fluids down. Your maternity team can decide how urgently you need to be seen based on the whole picture. The emotional impact matters too: seeking support is reasonable even if other people consider the visible hair change small or tell you that you should simply ignore it.

What does an assessment involve?

The discussion usually covers when the change began, where it occurs and how it has developed. Older photographs may help establish whether thinning started before pregnancy. Your GP, midwife or other clinician may ask about recent illnesses, diet, bleeding, thyroid history, medicines and supplements. Bring product names or packaging so that ingredients and previous treatments can be checked accurately.

Examination looks for diffuse shedding, broken hairs, localised loss and signs of inflammation. A dermatologist may help clarify an uncertain diagnosis. Investigations are selected in light of these findings and antenatal tests you have already had. Checking iron status or thyroid function may be appropriate, but every pregnant patient does not need an identical panel of tests.

Ask what each proposed result would help the clinician decide and how follow-up will work. An abnormal blood result needs interpretation in the context of pregnancy; it cannot independently predict how quickly your hair will regain density. Sometimes the initial decision is to monitor the change, with clear reasons for arranging an earlier review if anything develops.

Food and supplements: what is the difference between their purposes?

Aim for varied food intake that meets the needs of pregnancy. Regular meals and adequate intake matter particularly when appetite fluctuates; a special diet advertised for hair regrowth is not the objective. If you follow a vegan diet, exclude several food groups or repeatedly struggle to eat enough, professional support can help identify needs specific to your circumstances.

Recommended pregnancy supplements and products sold for hair growth serve different purposes. Folic acid, for example, has a particular role in antenatal prevention. Do not replace it with a hair supplement on the assumption that the products are equivalent, or add extra doses in the hope of faster growth. Follow the advice of the professional responsible for your care.

Before buying capsules or gummies, ask a pharmacist or clinician to check their ingredients alongside products you already take. Different preparations may supply the same nutrients. NHS advice specifically cautions against supplements containing vitamin A as retinol during pregnancy. A product being described as natural or available without a prescription does not establish that it is suitable for you.

When a deficiency is confirmed, correcting it addresses that nutritional problem and supports your health. Hair changes are then assessed over time, taking other possible causes into account. Increasing iron or vitamin intake without an indication does not make a supplement appropriate for every episode of shedding, nor does it remove the need to understand why the change has occurred.

Which hair products and treatments need checking first?

For everyday care, handle your hair gently and choose products your scalp tolerates. Detangle without pulling hard, avoid styles that place continuous tension on the roots and reduce practices that damage the lengths. These measures may help limit breakage or traction. They do not treat thyroid disease, a deficiency or scalp inflammation that requires its own assessment.

Minoxidil, which is used for some forms of alopecia, should not be started during pregnancy. Gloucestershire Hospitals advises against its use in this situation. If you were using it before learning that you were pregnant, contact your doctor or pharmacist to discuss the product and exposure. Your clinician can assess previous use in the context of your pregnancy.

Check medicated scalp lotions, oral products and herbal preparations as well. Evidence that a product helps another form of hair loss does not demonstrate either benefit for your current shedding or safety during pregnancy. A preparation being applied to the skin rather than swallowed does not remove the need to check an active medicinal ingredient.

Injections marketed to stimulate hair growth and cosmetic procedures are not automatic next steps. The hair transplantation guide describes a separate pathway after an appropriate lasting indication has been established. During pregnancy, the immediate priorities are to identify the cause of the change and agree on suitable care with the clinicians looking after you.

How can you monitor changes before the birth?

Keep a simple record of the approximate starting date, areas affected and events that may be relevant. If you take photographs, use similar lighting, positioning and styling. Pictures made under very different conditions can suggest improvement or deterioration without showing a true change in density, making them harder to interpret at a later appointment.

How often to review the situation depends on the findings and how you feel. Agree on a follow-up point and which changes should prompt earlier contact. Counting every lost hair or trying several new products between appointments may make the situation more difficult to track without providing useful information about the underlying cause.

There is no reliable individual timetable promising that shedding will stop in the second trimester. Some changes improve after an associated factor is addressed; others need further assessment. A friend’s experience, or even your own experience in a previous pregnancy, does not establish what you should expect from your hair at this particular stage.

What if shedding continues after childbirth?

Following delivery, a further change in the hair cycle may cause diffuse shedding after a delay. This needs to be distinguished from a problem that began during pregnancy, even though the two periods run into each other. Give the clinician the complete timeline rather than automatically treating every episode as one continuous instance of postpartum shedding.

A reduction in shedding does not mean that the previous volume will return immediately. Equally, persistent loss, localised changes or additional symptoms deserve reassessment. Choices after the birth may also depend on breastfeeding. Advice about products while pregnant cannot simply be carried over to that later situation without checking the relevant guidance and your individual circumstances.

If a lasting form of alopecia is eventually identified, its treatment options can be considered separately. Planning a hair transplant in Istanbul requires a suitable indication and a medical assessment of the context. For hair loss during pregnancy, the first aim remains understanding the change and protecting your health, while choosing appropriate care with your clinician.

Sources

Assurance Maladie. (2026, June 18). Adapter son alimentation pendant la grossesse. ameli.fr.

Gizlenti, S., & Ekmekci, T. R. (2014). The changes in the hair cycle during gestation and the post-partum period. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 28(7), 878–881. doi:10.1111/jdv.12188.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. (2024, April). Minoxidil (GHPI1535_04_24). Patient information.

MedlinePlus. (2025, June 3). Hair loss. U.S. National Library of Medicine.

National Health Service. (2026, June 3). Pregnancy vitamins and supplements. NHS.

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. (2017, December). Thyroid disease & pregnancy. NIDDK.