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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...

Gillian McCabe and I got together to give you our top tips for resolving pelvic girdle pain in pregnancy. You can watch our vlog here.

Firstly, Congratulations! Isn’t your body amazing? You’re making a whole new human! (or maybe several…)

Pregnancy should be a wonderful time but for around 30% of women it isn’t. Are you struggling to turn over in bed? Are you ok for a little bit when you’re up and moving but in agony by the end of the day? Does everything hurt (groin, hip, back, pubic bone…inside) even when you sit still too long?

There’s a lot of confusing information out there about aches and pains which all come with their own medical names (LBP, PGP, SPD…). Then there’s those ‘helpful’ members of your family and friends, the pregnancy-professional-advisors telling you that a bit of sciatica/back pain is normal, they had it with their second and it was fine after they’d had little Jacob…though...

I spend a lot of my time working with mums to restore their pelvic health and confidence after they’ve had a baby. Many of them are desperate to have abs. A rock-hard tummy, the six pack they never had before kids. Who doesn’t want one?! Now I’m a big fitness fan – your body was made to move and greatly benefits from exercise. But just focussing on the end result can lead to problems. How you get there is very important.

Let me tell you about a lady I saw a while ago, we’ll call her Katy. Katy was referred to me by her gynaecologist because she’d been having some discomfort down below – she was finding she needed to wee a lot during the day. We had a chat and she told me that sex with her husband was uncomfortable. Talking about private matters can be difficult, and as Katy opened up she told me her story – one I hear often.

She decided to do a January Abs challenge. She was a busy working mum of 3, her youngest daughter was 2 years...