How to avoid pelvic girdle pain in your next pregnancy?

Did you experience the pain of SPD during your last pregnancy and are now considering another pregnancy?

You may be wondering if there are ways to prevent you having PGP/SPD again.

The  suggestions I’m giving you come more from my personal experience and then from evidence-based research. Unfortunately there is not a lot of research into how to prevent SPD/PGP in subsequent pregnancies.

Firstly make sure that you are fully recovered from your first pregnancy and SPD.

The definition of “fully recovered” will vary from person to person, but generally I would say that you would want to be in a state where you are no longer experiencing pelvic girdle pain symptoms.

If your low back or investments the pubis joint at the front of your pelvis. If you are still experiencing pain here then it is worth having treatment from a manual therapist such as a chiropractor, osteopath or physiotherapist.

It is important you look particularly for a therapist who is experienced in treating women with pelvic girdle pain, a list of these can be found at the pelvic girdle pain and pelvic partnership directory.

Having manual therapy can help improve the motion and stability of the joint in your pelvis

In addition it can help relax the muscles that support your pelvis. This is a great way you can help your body become prepared for another pregnancy.

This is also a good time to work on your core and pelvic floor muscles to help support your core. Good classes for this are:

• Postnatal pilates

• Postnatal yoga classes

This will help provide strength to your body and as a result will support your low back and pelvis during your next pregnancy.

If you can it is a good idea to leave 18 months – 2 years between pregnancies to give your body time to recover and also to get through the most intense parts of looking after the first baby.

I realise that some people may not have time on their side and wish to start sooner. If you are unsure then discuss with a midwife or your GP.

Secondly, it’s worth sitting down and thinking about the things that may have triggered your pelvic girdle pain, apart from being pregnant.

I personally found driving long distances, particularly in a car, irritated my pelvic girdle pain. Also, professionally I found treating more than 6 patients in a row irritated my pelvis, as well as walking long distances and sitting with my legs crossed.

Once you locate the factors (other than being pregnant) that caused your pelvic girdle pain you can look proactively to see if there is any way you can reduce these areas for your next pregnancy.

For myself, I had decided to start a clinic closer to home to reduce my commute. This directly helped reduce the amount of pain I experienced.

I also took steps to limit number of patients I saw  in a row, particularly after week 12 of my pregnancy.

I was in a fortunate position but being self-employed as it meant I had a degree of flexibility of how and when I worked, however it is worth speaking to your employer to see if they can support you in any way.

Thirdly, work out where there is additional support for you during your pregnancy.

Whether this is friends, family members, or your partner or husband. Work out the particular tasks that you find troublesome and see if there is a better way of doing them.

I found one thing that irritated my low back when I was pregnant was hanging the washing out. The repeated bending down to the floor to reach the clothes out of the basket and pegging them on the line. I realised that I could put a garden chair near the washing line and put the basket of clothes on that which meant I didn’t have to lean down so far.

Simple changes like that can make a vast difference to how much pain you was feel on a day-to-day basis.

Particularly with the amount of washing you do when you have a baby!

If you are pregnant after suffering from pelvic girdle pain and feel you are starting to get symptoms of pelvic girdle pain again then I would suggest that you have the symptoms assessed and treated as soon as possible.

Go back to the the practitioner who treated your first pregnancy. Alternatively search Google or visit the Pelvic Partnership directory to find someone experienced in treating back and pelvic pain in pregnancy.

Often the sooner you start having treatment, the easier it is to manage throughout your pregnancy.

Classes such as antenatal yoga and antenatal pilates can help support your body during this time as well.

And finally some people may find it strange that you would try for another baby when you’ve been in so much pain and discomfort with the first. It may be helpful for you and your partner to come up with a stock reply to any questions that you are asked so that you do not feel that you’re constantly having to justify your decision to grow your family.

I hope you found these tips helpful. If you are looking for a chiropractor to help with your pregnancy pain then you can book an appointment with myself.

Or if you are not sure if chiropractic is for you then you can book a Free Chiro Chat with myself. This is a free appointment where you can visit and have a chat about your situation to see if I can help.

Once again, if you are not local to Newbury then you can have a look through the Pelvic partnership directory to find a practitioner near you.

If you have any questions at all and please don’t hesitate to get in touch, and I will do my best to help you.

Warm wishes,

Rosie Piercy

BSc (hons), MChiro, DC

Chiropractor – Total Chiropractic

01635 571 391 | rosie@totalchiro.co.uk.