Mummy Monday – Post pregnancy hair loss

Post pregnancy hair loss is one of the down sides of having a baby, that dreaded moment when the pregnancy hormones start wearing off and you start finding loads of hair in your hair brush or in the drain after a shower can be really depressing. With my first pregnancy I was bracing myself for it, but it still got me down a lot. On top of feeling self conscious about my new post baby body, I now had to feel self conscious about people being able to see my scalp through my thinning hair. My hair isn’t the thickest anyway, so it just felt like my hairline was so obviously thin. The hair loss started about three or four months post-partum, and went on for a few months. My hair recovered by the time my son was about a year and a half, but the awkward regrowth stage was very annoying. This time round I was determined to make the hair loss phase as short as possible, if possible, and encourage maximum regrowth. As I am breastfeeding I didn’t want to take any supplements (apart from the breastfeeding ones I was taking) as I didn’t want anything getting into my milk that could affect my daughter so I decided to try out oils. Here are a few oils you may want to try if you have thinning hair (even if it’s not due to pregnancy)

Coconut oil (100% pure) – I tried this for a while after my first pregnancy. I did feel like it helped a lot, as I started using it quite late on I'm not sure whether the hair would have regrown at that rate anyway but I felt like it gave my hair a boost. I also know a couple of people who have used this for hair loss or to grow back the fine hairs on their hair line and it worked for them. It smells nice as well which is a bonus as the other oils I've tried really don't! This is the only oil I would put on my hair and leave in all day or if I had to go out as I don't mind the smell. It is also easy to spread, even though it's solid in the pot it melts very quickly. Apply every other day and leave on for a few hours before washing for best results. Definitely worth a try.

Emu oil (100% pure) – NOT A VEGAN OR VEGETARIAN FRIENDLY PRODUCT.

The oil is extracted from the fat store in the skin of the emu, as far as I know the emu’s are farmed for their meat and bi-products extracted are used for other things like oils and beauty products etc. Many people won’t want to use this oil because it is from an animal, which is totally understandable, but after reading the results others had had using this I thought I would give it a try. From my experience using it for the last couple of months I have had the quickest regrowth I’ve ever experienced. I apply a small amount to my hair line and parting for a few hours before I wash my hair to allow it to nourish the roots. I have to say my hair line has not looked even half as fine as it did after my first pregnancy. So if you are not opposed to trying this oil, I would recommend it as it really has made a difference to me. It doesn’t have a strong smell, but it doesn’t smell very nice either, but if you only apply for a few hours before washing your hair you can still get good results. I apply it every couple of days a few hours before I wash my hair.

Jamaican black castor oil – This stuff is good, but it is very thick so is a bit hard to apply to fine Caucasian hair, unless you add a small amount of it to another oil with a lighter consistency like extra virgin olive oil or almond oil. I used to apply it straight (without blending it) to my hair line and the parting, but did not spread it through my hair as I found it too thick. It does smell quite strong, kind of a woody, burnt smell, I mainly stopped using it because I didn’t like the smell, but if you don’t mind it, then definitely try this product and look up other oils you can mix it with to get the best results when using it.

Above are the brands I used, all can be found on www.amazon.co.uk