Why I Always Run an HTMA Test During Postpartum (And Why You Should Too)

The Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) is a noninvasive test that uses a small hair sample to uncover your exact mineral profile. While it’s often recommended as a tool to optimize fertility, the HTMA test is also a powerful resource for your health during pregnancy, postpartum, and motherhood. As I recover from the birth of my third baby, let’s explore some of the benefits of using an HTMA during postpartum.

Why I Recommend the Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) Test During Postpartum

The Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis is often recommended for preconception. Since it provides data on your hormones and thyroid function, it can help you optimize your nutrition for a better chance at pregnancy.

But in my experience as a pregnancy nutritionist, the HTMA test should be a tool you use throughout pregnancy and especially into motherhood.

Think about it … your hormones are rapidly changing throughout pregnancy and into postpartum. While your body is nourishing your baby, your risk of hormone deficiency heightens.

Postpartum especially is a time when you give so much mentally and physically to your baby, but often your own health is overlooked. That’s why I recommend an HTMA test. It’s a quick, noninvasive test you can do from home that provides accurate health data and clear action steps. It’s a safeguard for yourself and your baby.

The Benefits of Running a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis Test During Postpartum

The HTMA test provides one of the best avenues for real health data. Unlike lab tests (which vary by practitioner), you always know exactly what you’re going to get from an HTMA test. For women in postpartum, I use the HTMA as a tool to relieve fatigue, depression, and depletion and to check in with their hormone health.

Stay Ahead of Postpartum Depression

The most important things to remember about postpartum depression are that it’s not your fault and you will get better. Postpartum depression is a multifaceted issue, so it likely won’t be solved with a few mineral supplements.

That said, the HTMA test can help us uncover clues to the root issue. From a cellular perspective, you need your mineral stores for thyroid, hormone, and brain function. Optimizing these minerals (especially magnesium, selenium, and zinc) gives your body more energy and strength to hold up against hormonal mood swings and depression.

Stay Ahead of Postpartum Fatigue

Feeling a little fatigued in postpartum (especially if you’re breastfeeding) is common. But it shouldn’t impact your quality of life. If you find yourself struggling to get out of bed, do simple chores, shower, or take walks, then you need to look for a deeper root cause behind your fatigue. Namely, mineral imbalance.

Studies show that pregnancy and breastfeeding impact your mineral stores so much they can actually cause bone density loss. So it’s not presumptuous to say that low mineral levels could impact your energy, too. Iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iodine, sodium, and potassium all have essential roles to play when it comes to your energy and vibrancy.

Check In with Your Hormone Health

While the HTMA test doesn’t specifically look at your hormone levels (I recommend the Lab Bundle for a deep dive), it does look at your mineral ratios. These ratios can give us clues about your hormone health and thyroid function, since certain ratios are common in women who struggle to produce the right hormones.

For instance, your sodium and potassium ratios can tell us if you’re producing a lot of stress hormones (like cortisol). Your calcium and potassium ratio can tell us about your metabolism and your ability to manage estrogen.

While minerals aren’t hormones, their balance (or imbalance) can give us a picture of what’s going on at a deeper level. If the suspected hormone imbalance isn’t severe, the HTMA test is a good way to understand what’s going on, without expensive testing or rushing yourself and your newborn out the door.

Address Nutrient Deficiencies

In most cases, nutrient deficiencies aren’t life threatening. We exist with them, sometimes craving certain foods that provide us with an extra dose of the magnesium or iron our bodies need. But if left untreated, nutrient deficiencies can turn into more serious health issues. They may prompt unexplained symptoms and even lead to a misdiagnosis (this is something I see often as a holistic nutritionist). On the plus side, filling nutritional gaps can dramatically change how people feel in their bodies, resolving chronic fatigue, migraines, and mental health issues.

When you’re breastfeeding and recovering from birth, your hormones and nutritional needs change daily. That’s why it’s so important to care for yourself — not just with nutritious foods but with real health data. I love the HTMA because it’s easy to do from the comfort of your home and it reviews so much of your health profile.

When Is the Best Time to Take a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis During Postpartum?

I don’t recommend taking the HTMA test too quickly after birth. You need to give your body space to recover and reset. My recommended time frame is 6-10 weeks postpartum, or once you regain your period.

In early postpartum, it’s best to use data from previous HTMA tests and nourish your body with whole foods. Then, if you still feel exhausted, depleted, or experience hormone-related symptoms, a test can be helpful. 

Remember, everyone’s body handles postpartum differently. Even if it’s been two years since your pregnancy, you could still benefit from an HTMA test. No matter what your timeline is, you deserve to know what’s going on with your body and how to get your energy back.

The Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis Made for Motherhood

Whether you’re three months or three years postpartum, you’re tired of feeling like pregnancy changed your energy and mood. I work with women all the time who put their own health on the backburner during pregnancy and breastfeeding because they don’t have time for themselves. They believe lab testing is expensive, time consuming, and may not even get to the root of their problem.

That’s why I created the HTMA Motherhood Bundle. The test is designed to get real health data for busy moms. It’s mailed to your doorstep, where you complete the test on your own schedule. Then once your results are in, I’ll send a prerecorded review and printer-friendly health plan that’s easy to implement.