Do these exercises to quickly get rid of your pelvic girdle pain in pregnancy

Pregnancy isn’t meant to hurt. Period. A little discomfort, perhaps. But no true pain. It's common, but not normal.

About 30% of women get pain in and around the pelvis, hip, groin and back during pregnancy. This is probably as your pelvis ligaments get lax so you can deliver the baby, your posture changes as you get bigger and your abdominal muscles weaken. Women also tend to change how active they are, and how much they exercise. For more information about Pelvic Girdle Pain in pregnancy (previously called SPD) download this POGP leaflet.

It’s important to get any pain checked out – so make sure you have a chat with your midwife or GP. They can usually refer you to a physio locally. Getting a full assessment of your symptoms is important to get you on the road to recovery, and they may be able to do some other bits and bobs to make you feel better while you’re there.

Watch this video to see this series of exercises I’ve been using successfully for years. It's a great starting point to get your tummy muscles firing to stabilise and support your pelvis and hold up the baby better – all to reduce your pain. So grab some stretchy theraband (be careful if you’re allergic to latex, get some latex free band) and pull up a pew…

1) Firstly…Breathing is SUPER important. I forgot to mention this in the video! Breathe in to prepare to move and Always move/pull back on the band on an out breath. This allows you to use your muscles more effectively – they tighten as you breathe out anyway.

2) Sit up nice and tall, put the band underneath your feet and hold both ends. With every movement draw in your lower tummy muscle below your belly button:

12 seated rows - pulling the band back with bent elbows, squeezing together your shoulder blades.
12 forwards lifts - pulling the band up in front of you
12 sideways lifts - pulling the band out to the side
12 dolphin curls - keeping the band tight pulled into your ribs, sink through your lower back to curl over, roll forwards and then rebuild you spine to sit up tall. 

Try this 3 times through in the morning and evening.

If all this is going well and twisting around doesn’t hurt, try adding the “oblique twists” at the end as you get stronger. This is where you pull one side and turn to that side at the same time, with an out breath and pulling in your lower tummy muscles. Try going to both sides.

Do this series of exercises sitting down 1-2 times a day for 3 weeks and you should be feeling better. It’s always worth getting a proper assessment though, it’s normally something easily sorted that is causing the problem and your local women’s health/pelvic health physio should be able to help swiftly.

I hope you’re feeling better soon!

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