Pregnancy is a wonderful time for a woman, loads to look forward to with the impending arrival of a little one. Acupuncturist and Midwife at Gold Coast University Hospital, Melissa Thompson, has caught her fair share of newborns in the delivery suite but also spends a considerable amount of time with the expecting mothers while they are pregnant and even after the delivery and during breastfeeding stages. She notes there is so much to consider both during and even after pregnancy with hormonal fluctuations within the mother’s body.

“During pregnancy, often women comment on their hair loss, structural changes of their hair or even new hair growth. These are due to either increases or decreases of hormones such as Prostaglandin and Oxytocin. There is not one simply rule to say that every woman’s hormones will behave in the same way as we are all unique and our bodies all respond to pregnancy differently” Melissa says.

“In some pregnancies, women can see hair become curlier or straighter and during breastfeeding hair can fall out. I see this, or other hair alterations in a considerable percentage of woman I care for and we can mostly attribute this to the change in hormone levels’’

It’s because of these hormonal changes that sometimes an eyelash lift might not work on an expecting or breastfeeding mother, it could also mean the processing time that is required could be longer or shorter.

If you have an expecting mother who books for in for an eyelash lift it is important to confirm if she has previously had this treatment performed with the brand that you are using. Most times if the mother has not had an eyelash lift before falling pregnant, it would be recommended to not perform the treatment without educating the client of the potential issues such as the lift not working/dropping out or over processing.

The first trimester of pregnancy is often the period of higher hormonal changes and many women are experiencing higher sensitivities during this period so Elleebana recommends avoiding performing eyelash lifts during this first trimester. Pregnant and breastfeeding mothers who do experience a reaction are not able to take antihistamines or antibiotics as these treatments can affect their child and so there are some cautions that need to be taken.

Regardless of pregnancy or non pregnancy you should always have an up to date indemnity form from your client on file that has their current medications or any developed allergies.

By Zoe Mitter and Melissa Thompson