Selma Blair talks about postpartum hair loss: “Selma’s going to be bald!”

Selma Blair is looking very Neve Campbell these days, isn’t she? That’s not a criticism or anything, I’ve just never noticed before how much Selma and Neve look alike, especially when Selma’s face is a little bit fuller. Selma’s face is looking different these days because she gave birth to her son, Arthur Saint, over the summer, and according to Selma, she still hasn’t lost the baby weight. I kind of like her with some extra pounds, though. Anyway, apparently her weight isn’t the only thing on Selma’s mind. She gave a new interview to People Magazine where she discusses her postpartum hair loss. Hey, moms – does that really happen? Reason #bajillion for me to not have a baby.

Selma Blair wants to keep it real. Just like all new moms, she’s experiencing the joys — and also the pains — of the hormonal changes that come in the first few months following childbirth.

“This is so not glamorous, but it’s true: I need to take longer showers so that I can collect the hair that falls out and throw it away so I don’t clog the drain. Why do actresses never talk about that?” she tells PEOPLE with a laugh before the Nov. 12 launch party for Gwen Stefani‘s Harajuku Mini for Target collaboration.

“It just started falling out at the three-month mark,” laments the actress, 39, whose son Arthur Saint is now four months old. “And I’m not a girl who likes extensions, so Selma’s going to be bald!”

All shedding aside, Blair is relishing her son’s latest milestones.

“He rolls over now,” she says of her baby boy with fashion designer beau Jason Bleick, “and he got a bouncy toy! It’s like the biggest moment of your life: ‘Oh my gosh, I get 10 minutes free now!’”

“Before, he had a playmat, Mommy or Daddy or now a nanny that comes for a few hours in the daytime, to hold him. But now, autonomy! He got a Fisher-Price Jumperoo — I wish I had one for every room!”

So what does Blair try to do in that 10-minute window of freedom? There’s only one thing, of course: “Shower!”

[From People]

Obviously, I knew that while pregnant, women’s hair will be thicker and more lustrous. But I guess I didn’t think about what happens after you give birth. According to the scary pregnancy site I just visited, around three to six month after giving birth, many women experience hair loss and sometimes the hair comes out in clumps?!? Yikes. Apparently, everything goes back to normal about a year later, though, and one of the suggestions to ladies experiencing hair loss is to continue taking prenatal vitamins. Or, you know, you could just ask to borrow one of John Travolta’s wiglets.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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66 Responses to “Selma Blair talks about postpartum hair loss: “Selma’s going to be bald!””

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  1. ShanKat says:

    I usually like her, but this is really dumb. I knew this from reading “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.” You don’t shed hair when you’re prego, and for many women, it catches up after baby is born.

    Guess this subject was left out of “What to Expect When Famewhoring.”

    • Mitch Buchanan Rocks says:

      Lol what to expect when famewhoring,that is priceless, thanks for the chuckle 🙂

    • miss_bhaven says:

      I think she is just stating the obvious. I dont find her to be the “famewhoring” type. She seems pretty down to earth to me.

    • Jen says:

      She`s not famewhoring – I knew that I would lose hair after giving birth but I had no idea how much. I have talked about it a fair amount and it has nothing to do with fame – I`m absolutely staggered, and I imagine she is too.

      I was lucky enough that I had nearly bald patches right at the front of my hair and now that it`s starting to grow back, it looks hilarious. Thanks celebitchy folks for the tip about taking your prenatal vitamins to fight this, I will get right on that!

  2. I.want.shoes says:

    When you are pregnant, you stop losing the hair that normally would have fallen out (we all lose hair everyday). Afterward, all that hair that should have fallen out but didn’t ends up falling out. You don’t go bald.

    I had the best hair of my life when I was pregnant. Why can’t they make a pill that mimics great pregnancy hair?!

    • Celebitchy says:

      I didn’t know that about the not losing hair when you’re pregnant and then losing it all at once after you’ve had the baby! I didn’t lose a lot of hair that I noticed, but a hairdresser told me she noticed it and that it happens to a lot of women after they give birth.

    • GiGi says:

      Yes! I went from having bone straight Indian (NA) hair to having this wild mane of Giselle Bundchen like locks. It was awesome… plus the big hair made me feel less enormous, lol!

    • the original bellaluna says:

      Apparently, my hair did not get that memo.

      My hair stylist once told me I probably lose 100 – 150 hairs a day (a nice way of saying I shed like a Persian cat) but it was okay because I have more hair than she’s ever seen. (And after my last haircut, it’s still down to below my bra strap. And I got rid of “2 Pomerians worth of hair” according to her.)

    • Jen says:

      I had some pretty serious bald patches, it was sad!

  3. Scarlet Vixen says:

    Yep, it falls out. I usually wear my hair quite long, but chopped it off before I gave birth to both my babies because I’d heard this happens. It can be thick and beautiful during pregnancy, but starts to fall out after–even tho I still take pre-natal vitamins. After I had my 2nd I was losing so much hair in the shower it was similar to a friend of mine when she started chemo for breast cancer (she eventually shaved her head). I still have a slight almost-bald spot along my hairline, so I have to part it on the other side of my head and wear heavy bangs to cover it. 🙁 Now that my daughter is almost a year old I can see it’s starting to grow back, but it takes awhile. I’m not gonna lie–you’re already so hormonal and feeling fat and gross and unsexy that it can be pretty traumatic. But it’s temporary. 🙂

  4. Naye in VA says:

    Umm i may be the only pregnant chick whose hair DID NOT grow when she was pregnant. Ughh

    But anyway you dont LOSE hair. You stop losing hair while you are pregnant because of the vitamins and such. All that hair you should have lost falls out after the baby is born. Nothing to freak about. you lose worse things after having a baby (ie sleep)

    • MsCatra says:

      Nope, I’m with you. My hair already grows really fast, so that doesn’t seem different (I’m 22 wks preggo), and it really doesn’t seem thicker, either. I’ve taken a really good multivitamin for years, though, so I figure that’s why I haven’t seen that change.

    • orion70 says:

      The vitamin thing makes sense to me. After my hair started growing back post-chemo, I searched high and low for ways to speed it up (mostly because I had a stubborn bald spot in the front that took ages to catch up). One of the recommendations I remember reading was to take prenatal vitamins (which also helps with nails, apparently).

      • pin_doctor says:

        fresh ginger slices can also help to stimulate hair growth (bald spots or thinning hair).

        it’s warming quality helps to increase blood flow to the scalp and speed up growth! 🙂

    • the original bellaluna says:

      I had AWFUL morning sickness with 2 out of my 3 pregnancies, and my hair was an absolute mess as a result! It got dry and brittle, and generally looked a mess. (If you can’t keep down the pre-natals and iron, they really don’t help.)

      With the first of those 2 morning-sickness babies, I had it cut to my chin to alleviate the drama of trying to take care of my hair.

      With the second, I just put it in a bun or braid.

      Not ALL pregnancy hair is the same.

  5. Melissa says:

    I remember reading about it while I was pregnant, but it’s still shocking when it actually starts happening. I have a LOT of thick hair, so I wasn’t worried about going bald or anything – it’s just disgusting. There was hair everywhere! On the sheets, on the couch,in the carpet,on the baby, etc. – so gross.

  6. Embee says:

    Agree with the PPs that it’s just catch-up. It’s messy, I mean, I would get up from bed and look at my pillow and it would be covered in strands. I showered either every day or every other day during mat leave and thereafter and I definitely saw more hair in the drain. But it’s manageable. When my babe was 15 months I chopped off my hair to even things out a bit. Now it’s not an issue (she’s 21 months).

    Pretty much the best reason not to have a baby is related to not wanting to put someone else’s needs/sleep/feeding/etc. first for the next 18 years. ALl the body stuff is truly manageable. I promise.

  7. Aryka says:

    I lost sooo much hair at the 4 month postpartum mark, the little one did too! And with really really long hair it was coming out in handfuls. Now, its about 5 inches long where it is all growing back and after my shower it looks like I have a halo of little hair all over my head.

  8. Jayna says:

    Some women have some permanent hair loss after childbirth.

    • Medusa says:

      Yep, my mom did. Lost most of it after I was born, never grew back. It’s been tragic for her as she’s spent so much effort trying to get it to grow back to no avail.

    • Bermuda Blues says:

      That is scary. Is that genetic?

  9. Kimberly says:

    haven’t seen her around since before she went to rehab. Glad she seems to be working on herself in a good way.

  10. Delta Juliet says:

    I lost a lot of hair after chilbirth too…..like, my hairline was visibly receeded 🙁 It’s mostly better now (my littlest is 2) But even when it’s growing back it sucks because you have tons of short little hairs sticking out….ugh.

  11. BW says:

    My mother lost an inch of her hair from the hairline back, after having me. She never lets me forget it. I think it’s one the reason for “mom hair” short haircuts. And bangs. The other reasons are to keep baby from grabbing it, and it just takes less time to do. Obviously, everyone’s experience is a bit different.

  12. Danny says:

    She looks real cute in the 1st pic.

    The linked pic of her with the extra weight had me thinking it was Liv Tyler.

  13. Terri says:

    I lost hair with both kids. The first was all over, just clogging up the drain and stuff. The second one I had bald patches and my hairline receeded quite noticeably. It is 1.5y later, and it is most all back, but I have lost 2 patches permanently at my temples.

  14. marge says:

    i did too loose a lot of hair some 4 months after my son was born, but my mother in law had told me, so I took some homepathic pills and it wasn’t as bad s I thought. I did chop it also, but that mainly for shorter, more efficient showers.

  15. Coyote says:

    I lost hair like crazy after having a kid. And I did have bald patches. My doctor and my hair stylist both recommended Biotin, which worked really well on my hair (skin and nails, too, actually).

    • jermsmom says:

      Biotin is excellent for hair growth. Another really good, natural rememdy for new moms – from everything to hair loss, increased milk production, and energy is to take Brewer’s Yeast. Don’t bother with the pill form because you would have to take like 40 pills a day to get the equivalent on just two tablespoons of the powder. Granted, it tastes pretty nasty, the best thing to do is just mix it with a little milk or just and chug it as fast as you can. It really does make you feel fantastic.

  16. Kit says:

    Same story here. Great hair during pregnancies (as if the bigger i got, the bigger my hair got as well, which was great). But afterwards, all back to normal.
    I didn’t have major hair loss though, thank goodness, it was bad enough being huge for months afterwards and looking permanently tired.

  17. Lindy says:

    Definitely lost tons and tons of hair. While the rate at which I lost it slowed down after about a year post-baby, my hair is still really, really different–much thinner, and instead of being curly, it’s weirdly just fuzzy and wavy. It’s horrid. One of the zillions of things I hate about my post-kid body.

    I think Selma Blair is looking pretty good. And I’m kind of glad she didn’t drop the baby weight eleven seconds after giving birth.

  18. jamie says:

    I got the depo shot on top of the regular hair loss, I cried so much because I was sure I was going to be bald.

    • hatsumomo says:

      Im on the Depo shot too but my hair hasent out, I just gained a bit of wieght-which wasn’t so bad. But a friend of mine-now THAT was a story! She lost a TON of hair after having her baby and starting Depo. She ended up changing birth control to control the damage, but it scared the bejesus out of her.

      • MorticiansDoItDeader says:

        I was on Depo for 6 years and never got my period back. My reproductive endocrinologist believes it contributed to my infertility. Depo is currently known to contribute to osteoporosis and memory loss in rodents.

      • Jag says:

        Depo shots are used for the forced-sterilization of some sex offenders, so it doesn’t surprise me that you lost your fertility. I’m sorry that happened to you.

        My gyno. didn’t tell me about that, so it took 10 years for my system to even come close to how it was before the 2 shots I was given. Had I known it’s used to sterilize people, I would never have taken it. I gained 30 pounds immediately after each shot, too.

        In addition, I’ve known women who got pregnant on the Depo shot, so it wasn’t doing what I wanted it to do anyway.

      • the original bellaluna says:

        HATED depo. I ended up bleeding for 2 months and then not bleeding for 1. Told the doc if that was what was going to happen, I’d rather take the pill. DONE DEAL!

      • scotchy says:

        oh my goodness, i too had a horrible horrible time with deepo provera, i had only one shot, and bleed for two months straight, then lost my period for 6 months.
        Why isn’t this s%^t illegal already.
        It is horrific and dangerous.

    • Toe says:

      I bled for 2 months too. My breasts produced milk …MILK and i cried for everything. Gained 30 pounds on 1 shot, never again.

      • hatsumomo says:

        I cant believe yall hate it that much. Depo was one of the BEST things to ever happen to me! I was 16 when I started and Im 26 now and god as my witness as long as they produce it Im getting my shots. Til menopause! Yeah I bled for about two months when I first started it,every day, but its not a normal period, with the bloating, cramping,ect….It was more like a light period that you just have continually, you have to wear a pad everyday, but I didnt mind. And Im a girl that doesnt mind getting it on while its that time of the month and neither does my man so thats not an issue. And I did gain about 30 pounds after my first two shots, but I was a super skinny gangly teen, the weight actually looked great on me and helped me fill out to a more womanly shape. And I dont really get my periods anymore, except for a freak-once-in-a-blue-moon kinda way. If I could go on and on about the virtues of Depo I would. I advocate it for EVERY woman out there!

      • Isa says:

        Oooh no! It was my first ever birth control at 15, so my age may have had something to do with it, but it made me crazy in the head! Wow, did I cry! I was so hormonal.

        I also recently read the same thing that Morticians did about the memory loss. I can barely remember stuff as it is!

        But really, I’m horrible on any type of birth control. It’s why I have two kids!

  19. anons says:

    yep, it’s true. my hair totally changed since having kids. like lindy, mine is most definitely thinner and more fuzzy than curly as it use to be. after my youngest was born (around three months postpartum), i had what looked like male pattern baldness. even now, three years later, i have mostly baby hairs in those areas around my forehead. ah whelp.

  20. Falula says:

    I know it’s not supposed to be a net loss since pregnancy hair is great, but I lost a TON of hair when my son was between 3 & 6 months and I swear up and down that I lost hair past what it used to be like. I have way less hair now than I did before I got pregnant. I knew it was coming but it was still a little traumatizing.

  21. Jane says:

    Ugh, is there anyone who didn´t lose hair? That is so scary.

    • the original bellaluna says:

      I didn’t lose anymore than usual. And I lose A LOT on the regular. But I also have it to spare. I regularly lose a wad of hair every time I wash it (gross) and lose more when I brush it (with a boar’s hair brush, because that’s healthiest for my hair).

      (Stylist told me “you have fine hair, but you have more hair than anyone I’ve ever seen.”)

  22. Meg says:

    is she wearing old lady shoes? like sophia from the golden girls?

  23. Isa says:

    I lost tons of hair and my hair was down to my waist so it can clog a drain fast! I cut it off about a month after my second was born and donated over 10 inches to Locks of Love. I wish I had her measure it, because I’m pretty sure I donated almost double. He’s 3 months now and I haven’t had my hair fall out like before, yet!
    Also, with my first my teeth ached. I was scared they were going to fall out too!

    • F5 says:

      you deserve a hug Isa! Wish you well!:)
      ( that would give me nightmares, hope you recovered in every sense)

      • Isa says:

        Thank you F5! I had to get a few fillings at the dentist but otherwise, everything went back to normal. The babies are worth it!

        It’s funny how pregnancy changes your body in ways you wouldn’t even imagine! You hear about the morning sickness, cravings and moodies but there’s sooo much more! Even the second was a whole ‘nother ballgame. I would be walking along and BAM! Sharp pains that would almost make me fall over.

    • F5 says:

      Glad to hear you’re doing fine Isa:)
      Good God, dem babies are like little body snatchers..lol
      You went through so much, I wish you only the best!

    • Mrs. Odie 2 says:

      I did the same as Isa. Donated it. I’m going to cut it again because it falls out everywhere all the time and I hate it. It still will fall out after I cut it, but I won’t have 30 inch long strands. Mine started at 4 months postpartum. It never looked bad. No one would notice but me. What I hate is my new baby hair that grows in. I have bangs that start at my temples and curl toward my forehead, but don’t grow all the way across. It looks ridiculous.

      • Isa says:

        Thanks F5! I fondly referred to my babies as parasites when they were in my belly! My hair loss wasn’t so bad really. I don’t have bald patches so I’m lucky there! Both of my kids were hospitalized this year, my oldeset with erythema multiforme and my youngest was in the NICU for a week. I saw a lot of kids and parents going though a lot worse. Hair loss, sharp pains and achy teeth is a small price to pay for my healthy babies!

        Ms. Odie 2- Dealing with short hair falling out is waaay easier than long hair! I thought I escaped it this time, but my babe is a little over 3 months and today when I was rubbing conditioner through my hair I noticed it was starting.

        You could always laser those off like the Kim K!!!

  24. Calli P says:

    Oh dear, young, naive,idealistic Kaiser-

    Yes. Yes it does. But not always. Didn’t happen to me personally, but did to a friend (mind you, just one). It grows back though.

    Now, perimenopause is a different beast all together, bwahahahahaha…

    JK, it’s not so terrible. I had a lot of hair to begin with, so I’ve gotten a bit thinner. If it was thin to begin with, well- I’d say you should probably start reviewing wiglet companies.

  25. F5 says:

    Oh poor girl, that’s so terrifying 0__o
    Love her, hope it grows back soon ( even if I didn’t love her..lol)

  26. Memphis says:

    I had only a tiny bit of hairloss after each of my kids (but my color and texture did change..it got darker and wavier *shrug*) My best friend however lost tons of hair after her first and her hair never really recovered from it.

  27. Katie says:

    I have only one kiddo, and I can attest to the hair loss. I lost quite a bit WHILE I was pregnant, and more afterwards. It’s been about 7 years, and my hair has not recovered. I had baby fine hair to begin with, so the loss was not a got thing. There is a visible difference to my before and after locks. Another thing I had to do was basically go blonde, because when your hair is dark, your scalp is gonna show through more drastically. However, the motherhood is well worth it. 🙂

  28. MrsNix says:

    I lost patches around my temples and across my forehead. It grew back within a year, but I lost a lot of hair postpartum.

  29. MrsNix says:

    I mean…bald patches.

  30. Mitch Buchanan Rocks says:

    I wonder why the doyenne of domesticity Goopsy never mentioned this & had some herbal organic remedies for the peasants who are experiencing this.

  31. sassenach says:

    I used to have really thiok curly hair (old Scary Spice)before I had kids. After my second ALOT of hair has come out and has never recovered. My curls are much more loose and wavy and my hair is much thinner. I am planning to get pregnant again within the next year but I am so scared that I will be bald. S much hair was taken last time, there is not a lot left.

  32. Ginger says:

    My hair changed after pregnancy as well. During my pregnancy my hair and skin were amazing and then afterwards my hair started thinning and I broke out like crazy. I also had some depression. But then thing evened out…it takes some time to get back to normal. However, I still have thinner hair than I used to. I just cut it differently. Selma looks really great with the extra weight! I hope she doesn’t feel too much pressure to lose it.

  33. Andie B says:

    Around 3-4 months after my little girl was born my hair started to fall out. It went on for months, but I’m happy to say I did not go bald. Thankfully I had a whole lot of thick hair to start with. This is nothing when you think about the insanity of sleep deprivation, being in hospital for three nights with Mastitis, not being able to walk upright due to having had a c-section, and that extra 15 pounds that took 2 years to move. Ha ha, glad I’ve got my girl though!

  34. orion70 says:

    Hormones mess with your hair, even aside from pregnancy. Women with PCOS sometimes suffer male-pattern baldness, and it is a possible side effect of many drugs that affect hormones.

    I spent the better part of this past year bald due to chemo, and regrowth was slow. I remember reading about taking prenatal vitamins to help things along, so I guess you don’t have to be pregnant to take them, if it helps. Also read about the biotin thing.

    Whether it helped or not directly, I don’t know, but I used this stuff faithfully:
    http://www.lush.ca/shop/products/hair/solid-shampoos/new

  35. lola lola says:

    Usually I don’t think anyone looks good with extra weight but Selma (who still looks slim) looks absolutely gorgeous! Wow, I think she looks better than she ever has.

  36. the original bellaluna says:

    I guess I was one of the lucky ones, since I really didn’t lose more hair than I normally do.

    I did, however, have extremely dry hair (not normal for me) with both of my “morning sickness babies.” But my hair still managed to grow at maniacal proportions. (Which it does even when I’m not pregnant.)

    My mum though, she had curly hair prior to both pregnancies, and she told me each pregnancy took more curl out of her hair. Since mine is bone-straight, I didn’t have that problem.

  37. Toe says:

    I’m using Monistat now for hair growth. You dilute it in a bottle with water. There are some serious side effects though. Google it first. The only side effect i have is my scalp itches…
    Hope this info helps for the ones with bald spots.