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Pregnancy can apply an enormous amount of stress on a woman’s body, especially on their back, leading to extreme aching, pain and soreness. Approximately 50% of Australian pregnant women have reported experiencing back pain during this period, and about 36% of the women reported suffering from anxiety and depression.
These physical and mental health issues cause functional disability and increase their need to access healthcare. However, the good news is that the baby is thriving inside the mother’s body, and there are effective ways to relieve their back pain. These effective habits include indulging in exercise, wearing a pregnancy support belt, practising posture training and yoga, wearing supportive shoes and more.
What Are the General Causes of Back Pain During Pregnancy?
Back pain usually occurs when the spine meets the pelvis at the sacroiliac joint. Additionally, numerous bodily changes and other factors cause stress on these joints during pregnancy. These changes include muscle tension, general stress, muscle separation, hormonal changes, posture changes, weight gain and overworking. If they don’t address these issues, the long term stress can cause long-term structural changes in the body, resulting in chronic health concerns in women. To nullify these stressors, women can develop certain habits discussed below.
Practising Good Posture Through Pregnancy
Generally, when individuals experience excess weight on their bodies, like carrying rucksacks, they tend to sway towards the weight. With pregnant women, the situation is similar where the weight of the belly causes the lower back to sway the body forward. It shifts their centre of gravity to the front, resulting in many women slouching, which causes pain. Consciously developing a good posture and alignment can help decrease the soreness and the back pain they face over time. They can do so while they work, sleep, sit, eat or walk around to alleviate the pain on the spine. Good posture practices include:
- Wearing a posture corrector to improve the shoulder and back alignment.
- Sleeping on the side and not on the stomach.
- Keeping the feet a hip-distance apart while standing.
- Standing straight with the chin up.
- Placing feet flat on the ground while standing and sitting.
- Ensuring that the buttock touches the back of the chair.
- Keeping the back and shoulders relaxed but in their place.
Wearing a Pregnancy Support Belt
Maternity belts or pregnancy belts provide optimal support to pregnant women to ensure their back and abdomen can carry the weight without straining the body. They take away the stress of the additional weight, decreasing the soreness and back pain. Wearing a pregnancy support belt for a few hours every day also improve women to develop better posture. These belts are available in multiple sizes and are perfect for women carrying single children, twins or generally larger bellies. Women also use sacroiliac joint belts to relieve the pain and ache in those joints. These belts stabilize the pressure on the lower back through circumferential compression and relieve the pain.
Doing Prenatal Yoga
Yoga is one of the best practices for pregnant women to adapt as it not only improves their strength and flexibility also provides mental peace and calm to help with stress. Prenatal yoga is helpful for women with muscle pain, back pain, aching joint and body pain due to the extra weight of carrying a baby for several months. Deep breathing exercises and meditation help improve emotional stress moods and strengthen the mind to withstand the pain. Research shows that prenatal yoga helps women sleep better, as it relaxes their mind, body and soul. Therefore, it reduces the risk of severe pregnancy-related pain and trauma in women.
