There was a good piece about hair loss in the ABM Newsletter of May
1987. (No, ABM doesn't mean what you think - it's Association of
Breastfeeding Mothers, a UK organization like LLL.)
        I've just dug the piece up (good heavens - was it really ten years
ago?!), and see that it originally came from the Counsellors' Newsletter of
NMAA, 17/6.
        It seems NMAA contacted a trichologist about the problem of hair
loss during lactation. The article says: "If the human body undergoes any
trauma, either physical or emotional, blood vessels contract or 'squeeze
up'. In this case, blood supply is temporarily cut off the the hair roots.
When any damge is caused to the hair roots it takes 2-3 months to manifest
itself by the hair actually falling out, that is, there is about 2-3 months
growth between the hair root and the scalp. The trauma referrred to above
could be a major emotional upset, an accident, surgery or CHILDBIRTH."
        The article goes on to explain that if a mother phones with her hair
falling out, check the age of the baby, who will probably turn out to be 2-3
months old. This problem may continue for a further 2-3 months, and has
nothing to do with breastfeeding.
        Also, we lose a certain amount of hair all the time. During the last
trimester of pregnancy, this doesn't happen for some reason, so the mother
loses more hair than normal in the period after the birth.
        In any case, even if the mother is losing masses of hair, she should
have plenty left, so she needn't worry!

                                        Anna Lowenstein
                                        Zagarolo, Italy