Hair Care Tips During Fertility Treatment and Pregnancy

During fertility treatment and pregnancy, surging hormones can wreak havoc on your hair and this can feel like yet another thing to worry about.

In fact, many in our Instagram community are wondering how fertility treatment affects hair and how hair changes in pregnancy.

So ahead of our IG Live on 13th December (when Eloise will speak with award-winning hairstylist Michael Van Clarke about pregnancy and fertility treatment’s impact on hair), we’ve collated your questions and provided some answers.

(Whilst I try to have luscious hair, I’m not a hair expert so will save the technical questions for Michael. Be sure to watch our IG Live so you can have your hair questions answered.)

Written by Holly Pigache

Can I highlight my hair during IVF or pregnancy?

• It’s no surprise that products that can mask our natural hair colour for months have chemicals in them –  an understandable concern during IVF treatment or pregnancy.
• Michael recommends “clients who have full head tinting or overall toners change to foil lowlights and/or highlights – or vegetable colours”.
• The mild nature of vegetable colours “does not change the structure of the hair shaft and the foils keep the chemical tints from contacting the skin”.

How does pregnancy affect hair?

• The boost in hormones during pregnancy leads many women to report “fuller, shinier and more vibrant” hair because of scalp nourishment and increased blood volume.
• Sadly, this doesn’t last and a couple of weeks after giving birth, blood volume returns to normal levels.
• Others find their hair seems drier, oilier or frizzier – if you’re experiencing this, you’ll likely be pleased these changes don’t last!

Great news for our US readers! The Michael Van Clarke hair care range 3 More Inches now ships to the US.  Try it here.

My hair is always breaking.  What can I do about it?

• Brushing your hair and then finding your hairbrush is clogged up – and there’s a sprinkling of hair around you – can be alarming.  Yet Michael reassures us that in the normal hair growth cycle, 50-100 hairs are lost every day.
• Blow drying your hair can also cause damage.  Holding the hairdryer too close to the hair, using a setting that’s too hot or heating the hair for too long can all result in hair breakage.  Michael suggests throwing the hairdryer nozzle away (because it concentrates the heat too much) and keeping a one-inch distance between the hair and the dryer.
• Try and let your hair dry naturally at least once a week.
• To my dismay, you can’t repair split ends.  Give your hair a trim and treat your hair with a pre-wash treatment (such as LifeSaver Prewash Treatment) to stop the rest of your hair from splitting.
• Beware of products containing silicone (Michael’s tip: silicone’s scientific names usually end in …cone or …conol)  as these merely lubricate the hair, not moisturise it.  Hair that breaks needs nourishment.