Have you ever wondered why back pain often comes hand-in-hand with pregnancy? Deena Blumenfeld, owner and Principal Educator at Shining Light Prenatal Education, explains the particulars of pregnant back pain, why it happens and what expecting moms can do to get relief.
Is Pregnant Back Pain Common?
Pregnant back pain is quite a common occurrence for most women. It varies widely from an occasional nuisance to more severe and continuous discomfort. However, moms: you don’t need to suffer! Back pain during pregnancy can be alleviated with some easy solutions. But first, let’s learn about why it happens.
Why Does My Back Hurt During Pregnancy?
To understand why women have back pain during pregnancy, Deena walks is through a brief anatomy lesson. The uterus is connected to the pelvis by four round ligaments. Two of these ligaments connect at the pubic bone in the front, and the other two connect at the sacrum. As your baby grows, so does your uterus. This growth puts tension on these ligaments, which in turn pull on the pubic bone and the sacrum. What happens next is the muscles in your low back and glutes try to overcompensate for the additional pressure. After a while, these muscles become fatigued and that’s why pain often follows. As your baby continues to grow, this is when many pregnant women experience pain and discomfort.
In addition, a pregnant woman’s posture and activity level have an impact on back pain. Later in pregnancy, as your baby gets even bigger, the baby’s position can also have an impact on your back pain. If your baby is occiput posterior (facing your back) that can exacerbate the back pain even more, as can other sub-optimal positions.
How Can I Find Relief From Pregnant Back Pain?
To help alleviate pregnant back pain, there are a number of things you can do, including changing positions frequently or exercising regularly. A prenatal yoga class is also great way to build strength and stretch sore muscles. Expecting moms should also sleep in a position where you’re properly supported to encourage a neutral spine.
To help soothe your back, reduce fatigue and calm sore muscles, you can also ice or heat your back. This is a natural alternative to pain medication and carries far fewer risks. Icing, in particular, helps with inflammation which reduces muscle fatigue and swelling and will lessen the pain.
The Spand-Ice Maternity Relief Wrap helps pregnant women with back pain relief, belly support, posture and even overheating. Shining Light and Spand-Ice have teamed up to test the maternity wraps with real moms in real pain. Its so great to be on the ground floor of a Brand helping to make women more comfortable and pain free in pregnancy.
Deena Blumenfeld ERYT, RPYT, LCCE is the owner and principal educator at Shining Light Prenatal Education in Pittsburgh, PA. She is a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, Lamaze Program Director and Prenatal Yoga Instructor. She is also a mom to two elementary school aged children.