At two months postpartum, my hair hadn’t started coming out in clumps yet, but the background anxiety was already fully turned up. I’d dealt with hormonal hair thinning before this pregnancy, so I was hyper-aware of what was waiting for me on the other side. So much so that I posted in a 600-member WhatsApp group for new moms, asking if anyone had found safe, effective serums or routines. Dozens of women reached out to share what they were trying, and I was eventually added to a sub-community dedicated entirely to postpartum hair recovery.
For Chetana Aggarwal, a first-time mother who was six months postpartum, the sheer volume of fallen hair was distressing. “I remember someone said, ‘I hope you don’t have your mundan before your baby does.’” The hurtful comment caught Aggarwal off guard. Strands covered her pillows, the bathroom floor, and even tangled up in her baby Kirat’s fingers while nursing. Reaching out to friends with older babies gave her a harsh reality check—some had escaped the hair shed, while others were still dealing with it a year out.
Aneri Shah Parikh dealt with something similar four months postpartum: “I got overwhelmed by how much hair was coming out and felt a little paranoid every time I saw hair in my hands.” Rather than opting for clinical procedures, Parikh focused on eating properly, increasing her protein intake, and skipping heat styling. Leaning on mom groups was what ultimately grounded her and gave her some solace. “Seeing others going through the exact same thing makes you realise nothing is wrong with your body,” she shares.
And she’s right, because there’s a valid medical explanation behind this tumultuous phase for your locks. As Dr Sonam Vimadalal, dermatologist and trichologist at Dr Sonamm WV clinic, explains, high oestrogen levels during pregnancy keep hair locked in its growth phase much longer than usual. Within 48 hours after delivery, oestrogen and progesterone levels drop sharply, causing those prolonged growth follicles to shift into regression, leading to shedding over the following two to four months. Shedding typically peaks around five or six months, before gradually returning to pre-pregnancy levels by the end of the first year. While 50 to 100 strands of fallen hair are natural for any of us, postpartum shedding can easily double or triple that rate. Add lactation to that, which takes up significant resources; the body prioritises the baby’s nutritional needs above the mother’s, which means that unaddressed vitamin or iron deficiencies can prolong the shedding phase.
Getting to the bottom of it
Dr Kohli urged me to slow down before jumping into high-tech procedures, pointing out that we needed to look at basic biological building blocks first. She ordered comprehensive blood panels to check my iron, vitamin D3, B12, and insulin levels. Since standard topical fixes, like minoxidil, are off-limits while breastfeeding, we would focus on correcting those underlying deficiencies through targeted supplements.
Misery loves a group chat
Meanwhile, within WhatsApp communities, shared remedies reflect a blend of modern products and traditional home remedies, like drinking soaked methi water or brewing custom herbal hair oils at home. Conversations cycled through Kérastase shampoos to supplement recommendations like Nutrafol or Hair Fact—complete with members passing around contact details for local distributors. Some new moms, like Nivedita Malhotra, are directing their efforts towards understanding how to support regrowth once the shedding phase has naturally passed. “Hair fall is inevitable, regrowth is something I can ensure,” she says.
Like Malhotra, I’m still in the thick of it all: downing methi water shots while nursing my baby in the dark and falling down online rabbit holes on what to do with all the hair coming out in my hands. But there is some relief in knowing that a few hundred other women are also having sleepless nights while looking at their hairbrushes—a reminder that we’re all in this together.
