The official medical term for postpartum hair loss is telogen effluvium, which is when more hair than usual is shed from your scalp.

Doctors warn that the fine hair parents try to scrub away is not a defect at all but a natural protective layer that disappears on its own.

Topical hair-loss solutions like minoxidil have long been marketed as safe, easy, and largely risk-free. But as their use grows, often without medical supervision doctors are flagging concerns that ...