It's a very real and very serious dilemma; to dye or not to dye while pregnant. Your hair, that is. Some books / friends / midwives will tell you not to do it, in case the chemicals harm your baby. But what's a girl to do when faced with dull as dishwater locks or loathed greys?
Seriously, a truly glowing pregnancy seems as rare a thing as a full night's deep sleep for a new mum. What with the morning sickness, constipation, acne outbreaks and depleted wardrobe, it's all too easy to feel miserable and unattractive without chucking in crap hair as well.
I know what the books say, but I want to know what real women do. Here's what my sample group said:Sarah, mum of triplets, 2yrs 6mnths
Yes, I did colour my hair, but after quite a bit of research and consultation with my colourist (yes, I had one in those days of being financially independent). I waited till my 12 weeks was pretty much up, partly on advice and partly as I was throwing up so much during that first trimester the prospect of lying back to have my hair washed, or sitting for any period of time somewhere public, was not my idea of fun. I also had a wedding to go to so I thought I'd try and gain some semblance of normality.
I did have it coloured again once more, this was altogether less than I used to go to the hairdressers, but my eventual size carrying triplets made it a joke to visit the hairdressers. I went to Toni & Guy, which shouldn't make a difference to visiting your friendly local, but in my head it did. I trusted them more.
I should also point out that, prior to pregnancy, my hair was already regularly dyed and colour of choice was a vibrant red. This means that you cannot simply let it grow out as it fades to a horrid orangey colour, not to mention the difference in regrowth. Had I not coloured my hair beforehand, I probably would have continued not to do so. When I did get it coloured during my pregnancy, I opted to go back to my natural dark brown / black with the hope that I would not need to get it coloured so often, given the restriction to freedom and spare cash. However, I had not considered the alarming fact that I now had a large number of silvery greys and now must keep it up until I feel old and mad enough to let it all go......
Sarah, mum of two, 3yrs and 2yrs
I didn't dye. I didn't investigate why not, I just had heard through the earthmama grapevine that it was too chemically. I was a real earthy pregnancy lady and didn't really do anything too processed or chemical-based. Apart from Ben and Jerry's, natch.
Also – my hair is still growing back! Two years after last baby born and it's still thinner!
Angie, mum of one, 10yrs
Wellll, you are not supposed to, but I continued to on account of vanity. The chemicals are not so good apparently, yet I didn't go down the herbal dye route, due to a past disaster with Herbatint (made my hair go all dry and horrible). Corban was born an absolutely normal baby.
Jill, mum of one, 15mnths, 16 weeks pregnant
I did! I suffered with the grey hairs for the first trimester as I'd read this was the most vulnerable time for chemicals etc and to be honest was so grateful to be pregnant that I felt I could live with looking washed out for a while.
Once the first trimester nausea etc passed though I decided enough was enough and also wanted to look a bit more glowing! So I went for a semi-permanent hair dye as felt this was a reasonable compromise, and to be honest probably suited my hair type/colour anyway. I think I had it done a couple of times during my first pregnancy, and am about to book the first one for this pregnancy!
Sarah (yes, another Sarah!), mum of two, 3yrs and 1 yr
First pregnancy I didn't - being all worried as a first time mum etc. However second time I had a full-on permanent which I was advised by my hairdressers (Toni & Guy so you would think they should know!) that it was all a myth! Felt LOADs better for it too!
Very important to have your hair sorted before you have the sprog - it is the last thing you want to worry about as a new mum!! Also you have LOADS of people taking photos of you at the start and at least you know your hair looks OK if the rest of you looks crap!
Mary, mum of one, 12yrs
I didn't even think whether to do it or not. I had highlights the week before I had Sam, and he was a perfectly healthy. As for after, I have no memory of what I did with my hair!
Did you dye your hair while pregnant? Let us know here...