Posted on Saturday 19, October, 2019
Having a baby and being a mum brings so much joy, love and laughter into your life. Unfortunately this time can also be very taxing on your body. Osteopathy may help you through pregnancy and many stages of being a mum.
Once pregnant, your expanding uterus and extra weight shifts your centre of gravity, which stretches out and weakens your abdominal muscles. This may change your posture and puts strain on your back. Once your baby is born, back pain may continue due to poor posture, bad lifting techniques (ie. reaching over the cot) and weak or tight muscles.
Mums with babies often experience shoulder, neck and upper back pain from breastfeeding. This may be primarily due to the posture you sit in for 20-30 minutes every 2-3 hours.
As babies turn into toddlers we also treat many mums for back pain as lifting a heavy 15kg two year old and carrying them on your hip overloads your back muscles. You may also find lifting heavy prams or capsules is giving you sore arms and elbows and putting kids in car seats in the tight confines of your car, twists and pulls back muscles you didn’t know you had.
Some simple suggestions to assist with limiting muscle and joint pain as a mum include:
- Under the guidance of your doctor, exercise during pregnancy to maintain strength throughout your whole body and primarily your back muscles. A good option is swimming or clinical pilates.
- Return to exercise after delivery under the guidance of your doctor to restore muscle tone to the abdominal and back muscles.
- When breastfeeding, bring the baby to your breast, use a support chair, use a foot stool and stretch before and after feeding.
- When picking up a child from the floor, bend at your knees, not at your waist.
- Treat yourself to a massage.
- Make an appointment at Spring Osteo to relieve, manage and prevent pain caused during pregnancy and once you’re a mum.
At Spring Osteo, we have many qualified osteopaths who see many women through pregnancy or as new mums and we treat a wide range of muscle and joint pain from acute to chronic. We can assist you through pregnancy and each stage of being a mum and invite you to make an appointment if you are experiencing:
- Back pain
- Pelvic and lower back pain
- Headaches
- Knee pain
- Pubic symphysis pain
- Postural problems
- Shoulder and neck pain
- Sciatica
- Heel and foot pain
For more information about osteopathy and how we may assist you go to our treatments and new patients pages.
To make an appointment contact us on 03 9830 7044 or book online.
References:
http://www.osteopathy.org.au/pages/pregnancy.html
http://www.babycenter.com.au/a536387/back-pain-in-pregnancy