Page Contents
No one knows why some new moms suffer from postpartum hair loss while other new moms don’t. It even varies from one pregnancy to another, as proven by Britt Ekland.
This famous actress had no problems with hair loss after her first two pregnancies, only to have severe hair shedding after her third child. It goes to show that any woman can have postpartum hair loss.
Taking vitamins may not be able to stop postpartum hair loss, but they can help your hair grow back faster and reduce hair thinning by helping your hair follicles be as healthy as possible.
What Is Postpartum Hair Loss?
Postpartum hair loss is caused because of your hair cycle getting out of whack. Your hair growth cycle has different phases, which are directly affected by your hormone levels.
There is a growth phase, a resting phase, and then a hair-shedding phase, where your hair shaft comes out of the hair follicle to clear the way for new hair growth.
During pregnancy, your hair growth tends to stay stuck in the growth phase. This is why many women have particularly lush hair during pregnancy, which is due to the same estrogen levels that cause ‘pregnancy hormones’ and mood swings.
After giving birth, your hair cycle will try to quickly catch up with where it is supposed to be. This causes you to rapidly lose hair, as all the hairs that should have been through the falling-out phase while you were pregnant all come out in the postpartum period.
Your hair follicles then rest, sometimes for longer than usual before growing back again. When this happens, you will usually end up with a lot of baby hairs that are often hard to style properly.
The postpartum period where you have the falling out phase, is usually a few weeks or a few months after giving birth. The resting phase that follows is often another few months before your hair grows back again.
The Top 4 Postpartum Hair Loss Vitamins
Any good postpartum hair loss vitamin will help you have improved hair growth. However, not all postpartum vitamins are formulated to help with hair loss. Some are meant to enrich your breast milk or have something else as their focus.
One formulated for hair loss will help your fine hair get thicker and will have all the key nutrients your body needs for fuller hair.
If you’d rather choose your own hair postpartum hair loss vitamin, I’ll tell you what specific vitamins to look for in the next section. Here I’ll share some options I consider to be some of the best for postpartum hair loss.
#1. Baby Blues Postpartum Hair Vitamins
Baby Blues is a brand that is made in the USA and focuses exclusively on mothers. It has both prenatal and postpartum vitamin gummies for whatever you are looking for.
They have hair vitamins, skin vitamins, and an immune-boosting gummy, all of which are for postpartum women.
Their postpartum supplement has biotin, collagen, Vitamin C, zinc, folate, and more. You take two gummies a day, with each bottle having 30 days worth. The passion fruit flavor of these is liked by most people.
The price is also perfectly reasonable, and you can get discounts for either buying three bottles or subscribing to get one bottle monthly.
#2. Pink Stork Total Glow Gummies
Pink Stork is a brand that is also exclusively for mothers. There are two different options that may help your postpartum hair.
Their Glow Gummies have Vitamin E, Vitamin A, biotin, folate, and a number of other vitamins known to help with hair loss. It is made by a woman-owned company, certified cGMP, free of major allergens, and third-party tested.
Meanwhile, they also have a postpartum mood support capsule. This has ashwagandha and a few other things in it to balance your hormone levels. Since out-of-balance estrogen levels are part of what causes hair loss, this can help after a pregnancy.
Pink Stork also has Total Collagen Gummies, which have a significant amount of collagen and almost nothing else.
#3. Nutrafol Postpartum
The Nutrafol brand is one that focuses entirely on solving hair loss. Nutrafol Postpartum is the latest in their line. They also have a supplement for women and another specifically for women going through menopause.
Any of their women’s supplements can help with your hair loss, but the postpartum option is specifically formulated to fix hair loss after pregnancy. It has over half a dozen B vitamins, along with other vitamins and herbs like nettle to balance your hormones, including your estrogen levels.
The downside of this hair loss vitamin is that it is quite pricy and requires taking four capsules a day. Even subscribing doesn’t save you a whole lot, though it does cut off a few dollars. However, some women feel it is worth it to get their hair back to its normal fullness.
#4. One-A-Day Postnatal Complete Multivitamin
This multivitamin has over a dozen vitamins in it, including several B vitamins. It also has omega-3s from fish oil. You only need to take one soft gel a day, but some people say it is quite large.
Still, it is better than eating a gummy that might not taste great. The price is reasonable as well, making it a good option for positive hair growth.
What To Look For In Postpartum Vitamins
When you have postpartum hair loss, there are key nutrients you need more of. There are also things you should avoid in postpartum hair loss vitamins.
For example, if you are breastfeeding and want to keep your baby healthy, you shouldn’t take a supplement that has an ingredient that might be harmful for them.
This includes a supplement with a large amount of Vitamin A, which is known to cause birth defects and which may not be safe even when breastfeeding.
On that same note, most postpartum options are made with nursing mothers in mind, but you should still verify it is safe before you start taking it.
If you have any nutritional deficiencies, you should obviously take a vitamin that has what you are low on in it. You can ask your doctor for a blood test to see if you have any vitamin deficiencies. Let’s go over some of the essential nutrients you need for healthier hair.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E, along with Vitamin A, is needed to make sebum. This oily substance helps you have thick hair by coating your hair strands. The coating protects your hair from daily wear and tear, and it also prevents your hair from tangling as easily.
If your oil glands don’t make enough sebum, your hair ends up being brittle, and you end up with thinning hair due to breakage.
Vitamin B
B vitamins almost all help you have healthy hair in one way or another. Biotin, in particular, is well-known for helping people get thicker hair. Biotin is essential for your body to make keratin, which is one of the main building blocks of your hair.
Vitamin B12 (folate; folic acid) helps you make new red blood cells, which are needed to carry oxygen to your hair. It also postpones your hair turning gray and may help with hair volume.
Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) strengthens and nourishes your follicles. It also goes into making your hair shaft, which is vital if you want to avoid thinning hair due to breakage.
In fact, some doctors recommend a B vitamin injection to help boost hair loss. A B vitamin injection usually has a mix of B vitamins to help the most with your hair loss.
Iron
Many women struggle with anemia while pregnant. After their pregnancy is over, this anemia problem sometimes gets even worse for a while.
Since iron is needed for hair tissue growth, this alone can cause hair thinning unless you remedy it. It also makes new blood cells, which are needed to carry nutrients to your scalp.
Collagen
Collagen goes both into making your hair strands and into your hair follicles themselves. Both of these are necessary for hair health, with the latter keeping your follicles working properly so they can grow more hair.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C serves two purposes for your hair cells. First, Vitamin C is needed by your cells in order for you to absorb iron and collagen properly.
In other words, you could be taking lots of iron and still lose hair due to a lack of iron in your body.
The second thing it does is boost your health to help you avoid getting sick. Since any illness can stress your body and inhibit the cell growth of your hair, this is almost as much of an important role as the other.
Zinc
Zinc plays a role in your hair cycle and in keeping your follicles healthy. Along with folate, it helps your scalp tissue repair itself, healing any damage and helping you keep a full head of hair.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D stimulates your follicles to grow new hair. This is one reason why people who don’t get enough sunshine sometimes have hair loss, as their follicles aren’t getting the stimulation they need.
Other Vitamins
Omega-3 fatty acids are thought to be useful for promoting hair growth. Protein can help form your hair strands, though it is only certain types that get used by your scalp.
Magnesium is used for building some of the proteins of your DNA and is vital for your overall health. Meanwhile, calcium is known for helping your teeth and nails stay strong, but it is thought to help you get stronger hair as well.
Other Tips To Promote Hair Growth
Taking prenatal vitamins while you are pregnant is something simple you can do for your hair health. Though it might not be enough to prevent postpartum hair loss, prenatal vitamins can help your hair fall not be so bad.
No matter what causes it, there is always something you can do for your hair loss. There are a wide variety of growth and repair shampoos and conditioners. You can look for ones made with women in mind, though there are postpartum options as well.
Finally, there are general things you can do to promote healthy hair growth. This includes using a hair mask, hair oils for more moisture, etc. A balanced diet with the key nutrients already mentioned is helpful for your health, which will help your hair in turn.
Final Thoughts
If none of these vitamins help your postpartum hair loss, you may need to see your healthcare provider for something more to help your hair. Fortunately, most postpartum women don’t need anything more than time and specially formulated vitamin supplements to see their hair return.
Have you had hair loss after being pregnant? Was there anything you found helpful for getting healthier hair? I’d love to know if you could leave a comment!
