How To: Best Support Your Posture During Pregnancy
When it comes to posture during pregnancy, it is really hard to determine what course of action to take in order to continue feeling your best throughout all three trimesters. Pregnancy is an incredible time. Your body is changing drastically when it comes to hormones, orthopedics, and musculoskeletal systems to support your growing baby. Certain factors should be considered in order to ensure you are moving smoothly and have both the mobility and stability to have a successfully, painless pregnancy.
We will dive deeper into each trimester and its unique considerations for posture, but first let’s discuss one really important topic: gravity. Gravity, a force always acting on the body, transfers force through your center of mass. This is the midpoint of the body. This center of mass changes during pregnancy and continues to change with your growing baby. These adaptations can help to avoid you from feeling off balance or toppling over, but can also create compensations during pregnancy which can be challenging.
During the first trimester, hormones begin changing creating more relaxed ligaments and more opportunities to create unstable postures. Furthermore, with the nausea and fatigue often associated with the first trimester, many expecting mamas are more sedentary than they were before. I often see patients spending more time sitting or laying down or leaning over a toilet or sink during the first trimester creating some postural dysfunction.
As the pregnancy continues, the second trimester can create other forms of compensation as you try to distribute weight more evenly. As baby grows during the second trimester, the lumbar lordosis begins to increase and the center of mass we described before moves forward. This can create overextended knee joints and an anteriorly tilted pelvis. An anterior pelvis and hyperextended knees create tightness in the hip flexors and low back and can create areas of tension and pain.
The third trimester can further these patterns and create a waddling gait pattern for many expecting mamas. This waddling gait pattern is caused by the laxity in the ligaments at this point and further instability in the joints of the pelvis as you prepare for birth. See the image below which better describes these compensations:
Its great that I have exposed all of these postural patterns during pregnancy, but what can we do about it?!?
Practicing a few techniques can be really helpful in improving posture, stability and decreasing pain during pregnancy.
Practice Improved Rib and Pelvic Positioning
Put your pinky finger on your hip bone in the front and your thumb on your ribs. Likely one finger is pushing forward more than the other. Look to create stability by stacking the ribs on top of the pelvis. Unlock the knees and relax the shoulder blades and appreciate this position of stability.
Diaphragmatic Breathing
Make sure you ar not breathing only into your chest or only into your belly. We want to create good inhalations that expand the pelvic floor and contract the diaphragm to avoid shallow breathing patterns which can create dysfunction. Practice breathing down into your pelvic bones, into your shoulder blades in your back and into the sides of your ribs.
Hug the Baby
Another awesome technique to get pubic bone relief and low back pain relief during pregnancy is to utilize the “hug the baby” move. Stand with good posture as described in #1 and take a deep breath as we described in #2. On your exhale, think about drawing the baby up towards your heart center like you are giving baby a hug. You should feel a great core contraction and a lift. This core movement can help with pressure management, decrease pain in hips, pelvis and back and can be useful when it comes to push practice later on.
I hope these techniques help all the pregnant mamas out there. I applaud you for being proactive when it comes to posture and control. I wish you a beautiful pregnancy. If you are in the Denver area and would like to inquire about services with Dr. Sydney Pincus, DPT please visit our home page.
