Simeon decided to just wing her hair routine post-baby, but beauty writer Janell Hickman-Kirby took no chances with her postpartum hair-care plan. “I begged my stylist to come to the house to do my braids,” says Hickman-Kirby. Birth braids were a non-negotiable for the Brooklyn native, and she continued to lean heavily on protective styles as she adjusted to life as a mom. “I didn't really wear my natural hair because it felt like too much work to just kind of keep it styled and defined, so I really, really relied on protective styles.”

No matter the coping method, the sentiment among fellow new moms I spoke with is the same: We don’t have the time or energy to care for our babies and our natural hair. And the task of caring for natural hair postpartum becomes even more arduous for moms suffering from postpartum depression, something 10-to-15% of women in America experience. “When a mom is experiencing postpartum depression, even the simplest self-care tasks can feel insurmountable,” says Elizabeth Baron, LMHC, licensed psychotherapist and Nara's maternal mental health advisor. “They’re just so preoccupied with feeding and soothing the baby, in addition to household tasks, they forget or don’t have time to address their own basic needs.”

Right after I gave birth, my brain was all about the baby. I felt like I was in survival mode, which meant hair seemed like a luxuriously frivolous thing to be thinking about—but in reality, it’s not. Hair care is as essential to your well-being as taking a shower or brushing your teeth.

For many Black women, styling can’t be divorced from basic hair care—for us, there’s no just shaking your hair out after a shower and going about your day. If I don’t twist my hair or, at the very least, add some product and detangle it after washing, I can expect single-strand knots and dryness, which will ultimately lead to breakage.