"I’ve been really struggling" - Naomi Osaka gets honest about post-pregnancy hair loss, expresses delight at her progress

Naomi Osaka gave birth to a daughter, Shai, on July 7, 2023. Post that, she suffered from hair loss, which she recently opened up about.

In her latest TikTok video titled "For My Hair Girlies Only," the four-time Grand Slam champion talked about the hair loss and how she's reclaiming her pre-pregnancy hair's "edge and stuff."

“This is a very weird video,” Osaka said. “I’ve been really struggling with my hair for like the past two years. Like, during pregnancy and after pregnancy I lost my edges and stuff.

“They’re back now,” she added. “Well, kind of. Kind of! Don’t look too closely. I also dyed my hair a lot, so I had to cut it off, blah, blah, blah. But I think it’s back now.”

According to experts, postpartum hair loss is common and it can last up to six to 12 months after giving birth. Once that period is over, the hair loss stops, and it regains normal thickness.

During this hair loss, Osaka said she used to tie her hair using a ponytail. She said:

“Anyway, I’ve been wearing a ponytail, as you can tell, because I didn’t know how to wear my hair. And then I watched one TikTok yesterday—don’t look too close, again—but I think we’re back! Hey!”

Osaka's latest hair loss admission comes in the middle of the Japan Open. As the top seed, she recently played a three-set thriller against Suzan Lamens and won the match to advance to the quarterfinals.

Naomi Osaka opens up about body image challenges after giving birth

Naomi Osaka has been candid about her postpartum journey, even sharing last year that she felt "ashamed" to wear form-fitting tennis outfits. She started to compare herself with other mothers with an unrealistic expectation to regain pre-pregnancy fitness just as fast.

“Seeing other moms seemingly shrink immediately after having their baby was an expectation I began to put on myself,” Naomi Osaka said via Tennis.com. “That self-comparison always hurt because I felt as an athlete I should be losing weight quicker than most, I was in the gym every day so that thought didn’t feel too unrealistic.

“Most weeks would feel similar to the previous week, and the weight didn’t disappear overnight so it was a bit disheartening.”

It took some time for her to come to terms that everyone's body is different and it undergoes the postpartum journey. Instead of setting massive expectations, she has started to embrace her body.