I also continued taking a daily iron and vitamin D supplement prescribed by my primary care doctor, while making sure to eat enough protein and anti-inflammatory foods such as berries, nuts, fatty fish, mushrooms, and avocados. While hair loss is notoriously hard to treat, Ayala notes there is some evidence that eating a well-balanced diet with plenty of protein promotes hair health, which could lead to less loss and breakage.
After one and a half months of my new routine, as I was nearing the end of my pregnancy, I started to see positive changes. I experienced significantly less shedding, and my hair felt stronger, healthier, and more durable. Those minor adjustments gave me hope that my hair was responding well to the minimalist routine I had adopted and that the changes would continue as my pregnancy came to a close.
In the end, I realized it wasn’t just about regrowing my hair. It was about reclaiming a sense of control and letting go of the pressure to look a certain way, especially during a time when there’s already so much stress on the body.
Briana Balducci
Briana Balducci
The mental impact of pregnancy hair loss on Black women
When I was growing up, my grandmother often said, “Your hair is your beauty,” a sentiment that is proverbial in the Black community. Whether we wear braids, twists, crochets, or embrace our natural curls and coils, our hair is a symbol of identity, strength, and ancestral connection. In many ways, my hair felt like my first baby—something I’ve learned to love, protect, and nurture.
Despite that pride, Black women tend to have a complicated relationship with our hair. Our textures are often scrutinized and criticized, used by society as a way to devalue us. From an early age, we’re conditioned to manage and “tame” its unique texture. Once I realized how absurd this all is, I worked hard during my early 20s to accept and embrace my natural hair. When I noticed how significant the shedding became with every washday during my pregnancy, it felt like all the effort and time I had spent learning to appreciate my hair in its authentic state was suddenly in vain. It made me doubt the importance of that process altogether.
It was more than my curls slipping away from me. This experience took me on an emotional roller coaster. It’s easy to forget that while pregnancy is celebrated, it also brings extreme physical changes to our body that can cause many types of pain. For Black women, these changes come with an additional layer of pressure to maintain a certain image that society deems acceptable. There’s an expectation to look put together all the time that our white counterparts don’t seem to have.