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Back Pain in Pregnancy


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What causes back pain in pregnancy

Backache is extremely common in the middle to late stages of pregnancy. It’s caused by many factors but is largely due to strain on the ligaments and muscles of your back. Indeed, the extra weight of the baby in your womb shifts your center of gravity forwards meaning that the way you stand/walk and your posture are affected. Pregnancy hormones also soften the ligaments around your back and pelvis to create room for the growing baby and in preparation for labour, leaving your back less supported.

Much like pelvic girdle pain in pregnancy, there are a few tips that may help relieve the pain. However, until you have delivered your baby, there is very little that can be done to relieve the pain completely. That said, the following may help:

If your backache continues and is severe, seek advice from your midwife or GP. They may discuss taking simple painkillers with you (e.g. paracetamol) and may also refer you to a physiotherapist for assessment.

NICE (The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) advises that exercising in water, massage therapy, and group or individual back care classes might help with symptoms of backache.

Some local swimming pools provide aquanatal classes with qualified instructors. You could enquire at your local swimming pool. Exercising in the water will support your weight, thus allowing you to move more freely.

Exercises to ease backache in pregnancy

NHS Choices recommends the exercises below to help to strengthen abdominal muscles and thus ease backache in pregnancy:

Main points

References

Liddle SD, Pennick V; Interventions for preventing and treating low-back and pelvic pain during pregnancy. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015 Sep 30 9:CD001139. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001139.pub4.
WHO recommendations on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience; World Health Organization, 2016