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Somewhere between three and four months after birth, many mothers notice the same alarming thing: clumps of hair in the shower drain, on the pillow, in the hairbrush. For many, it feels sudden, and it can be genuinely distressing on top of everything else already changing. The most common cause: hormones During pregnancy, high oestrogen levels extend the growth phase of your hair, which is part of why pregnancy hair can often feel thicker and fuller than usual. After birth, o

Redness, a smell, a fever, blood clots: here's when "normal healing" becomes "get it checked" Recovering from birth involves a lot of healing at once. A caesarean scar. A perineal tear or episiotomy. The site where the placenta was attached inside your womb. Possibly a urinary catheter, or a bruise that's taking its time to fade. Most of this heals without anything going wrong. But it's not always obvious where "healing looks a bit dramatic" ends and "this needs looking at" b

"Is This Normal?" - The Breastfeeding Questions Mums Ask Me Again and Again I get asked some version of these questions almost every week, usually by a mum who's been sitting on the worry for days, convinced she's the only one dealing with it. Breastfeeding gets sold as natural, and for some mums and babies it does click quickly. But for most of us it's a skill learned together, messily, over weeks. Here's what I actually tell people. Is it normal to leak? Yes, and it can go

(This image shows what AI thinks support after birth looks like. Let us know what you think....) When a new baby arrives, we know what to do. We send flowers. We buy tiny clothes. We ask to see photos and visit to meet the newest member of the family. It's one of life's happiest occasions, and celebrating it feels instinctive. Supporting someone after they've given birth is less instinctive. Not because we don't care, but because recovery after birth is rarely talked about i

Returning to exercise after having a baby is often discussed as a question of timing. When can I run again? When can I lift weights? When can I return to my usual workouts? In reality, postnatal exercise rehabilitation is not primarily about time. It is about recovery, function, and the body's ability to tolerate increasing levels of physical load. Pregnancy and birth place significant demands on the musculoskeletal system, pelvic floor, abdominal wall, cardiovascular system,

The weeks and months after a baby is born bring profound emotional and psychological adjustments. For many women and birthing parents this period involves a mixture of joy, exhaustion, responsibility and uncertainty as they adapt to caring for a newborn. Alongside these changes, some mothers experience sudden, distressing thoughts that feel completely out of character. These thoughts can involve images of harm coming to the baby or fears about something terrible happening. Th

Recovery after birth is different for everyone. While tiredness, mood changes, and fluctuations in weight are common in the months after delivery, sometimes these symptoms can be caused by an underlying medical condition rather than the normal demands of caring for a baby. When that does not happen, when fatigue persists, mood remains low, or weight shifts in ways that do not make sense, the explanation is often assumed to be sleep deprivation, the demands of new parenthood,

Pregnancy is one of the most significant health events the body ever experiences. For nine months, nearly every system works harder. The heart pumps significantly more blood. Blood sugar regulation is tested continuously. The thyroid is placed under increased demand. Blood pressure adapts to new physiological loads. For most people, those systems recover after birth. For some, pregnancy surfaces something that was already present. Not a problem caused by pregnancy, but a risk

As the weather becomes warmer and summer approaches, many health messages begin to focus on “resetting”, “getting back in shape”, or preparing for the season ahead. These messages often centre on weight loss, restrictive diets or rapid lifestyle changes. For women and birthing parents in the months after having a baby, these narratives can feel particularly intense. The postnatal period is already a time of enormous adjustment physically, hormonally and emotionally. Adding pr

After birth, many women and birthing parents expect recovery to follow a clear and predictable path. There is often an assumption that by a certain point, usually around the six-week check, the body will have largely returned to normal, and any remaining symptoms will be easy to interpret. In clinical practice, this is often not what we see. One of the most common concerns raised in postnatal consultations is uncertainty. Women and birthing parents often describe a sense that

By Dr Rebecca Moore, Consultant Perinatal Psychiatrist and Co-Founder of Make Birth Better When we talk about childbirth, the conversation often centres on physical outcomes. We discuss whether labour was long or short, whether a baby was born vaginally or by caesarean section, and whether mother and baby were medically well afterwards. These factors are of course extremely important. But they are not the only elements that shape a person’s experience of birth. For many women

In the months after a baby is born, sleep becomes one of the most discussed challenges of early parenthood. Most parents expect that sleep will be interrupted by feeding, comforting and night waking. What often surprises many women and birthing parents, however, is that sleep itself can feel fundamentally different. Some mothers describe feeling exhausted but unable to fall asleep when the opportunity arises. Others notice that they wake instantly at the smallest sound from t

Black Maternal Health Awareness Week is a time to recognise a persistent and uncomfortable truth. Outcomes in maternal health are not equal. Black women and birthing parents continue to experience higher rates of complications, delays in care, and poorer outcomes across pregnancy and after birth. These differences are not explained by biology alone. They reflect how care is delivered, how risk is recognised, and whose concerns are taken seriously. At Hesta, we believe that im

(If your scar doesn't look like this, don't panic. Read on to find out what to expect after a c section.) Many people are familiar with the six-week postnatal check, and it is sometimes treated as the point when healing is complete. When a baby is born by caesarean section, the expectation can be similar: once the incision has healed and the early weeks have passed, recovery should be finished. In reality, recovery after a caesarean birth takes considerably longer. A caesar

Many women and birthing parents are familiar with the six-week postnatal check. It is often treated as a milestone for recovery after birth. In reality, however, physical healing continues for many months after pregnancy and childbirth. One area where this ongoing recovery is particularly noticeable is the pelvic floor. By three to six months after birth, many people begin to wonder whether what they are experiencing is part of normal healing or a sign that something needs fu

Feeling exhausted after having a baby is expected. Newborn care is demanding, sleep is fragmented, and the body is still recovering from pregnancy and birth. But sometimes the level of exhaustion feels disproportionate. Some women and birthing parents describe fatigue that goes beyond sleep deprivation: climbing stairs feels unusually difficult, concentration is poor, and even small daily tasks feel physically draining. In these cases, it is worth considering whether somethin

For many women and birthing parents, the first time they attempt sex after birth is approached with a quiet mix of hope and apprehension. Will it feel the same? Will it hurt? Will I feel like myself again? And when it does hurt - when there is dryness, stinging, tightness, or a sense of fear in the body - many people assume something has gone wrong. That they have failed to “recover properly". That this is just the price of motherhood. It isn’t. Painful sex after birth is com

For many women and birthing parents, the first time they hear the word prolapse is when something already feels wrong. A heaviness. A bulge. A feeling that “things aren’t where they used to be”. It can be frightening, and deeply embarrassing, especially if you don’t know that prolapse is common, treatable, and not a personal failure. Many women and birthing parents worry they’ve damaged their bodies, done something wrong, or that surgery is inevitable. This article is here to

Pregnancy and the postnatal period (often referred to collectively as the “perinatal” period) can be some of the most exposed, scrutinised years of a woman’s life. Your shape changes in public. Your appetite is commented on. Your choices are monitored. And at the same time, you’re expected to “eat well,” gain the “right” amount of weight, manage symptoms, recover quickly, and finally “get your body back”. In this environment, it’s not surprising that disordered eating can sho

This week marks an important milestone for Hesta Health. We are opening early access to our first clinical service: the Hesta Health Check: Recovery. It is the first step in what we believe must become a new benchmark in postnatal healthcare, one that recognises a simple but long-overlooked truth: postnatal recovery does not end at six weeks. But for most women, the healthcare available does. The gap between “you’re fine” and feeling well In recent weeks, there has been incre