You might be enjoying your pregnancy, but chances are you’re not enjoying the back pain that can accompany it. Read our guide to learn what’s normal, what’s not, and how to soothe prenatal back pain.
Back pain is one of the most common side effects of pregnancy, with up to seven in 10 women suffering from it. The spine is the fundamental support for the body, so when we are growing a baby, it is going to be impacted.
And to make things worse, one of the best ways to ease an aching back is to lie down with our knees bent, but from Week 20, it is not advised to lie on our backs (due to circulation issues), making it really challenging to ease a sore lower back. So read on to find out what you can do!
Why your back hurts during pregnancy
There are five key reasons for back pain in pregnancy: hormonal changes, such as relaxin, which softens ligaments and destabilises joints, weight gain, which puts further strain on the back, poor posture, stress, muscle tension, and, in the later stages, irregular uterine contractions.
Top 5 causes of intense pregnancy back pain
- Hormonal changes. An increase in the hormone relaxin helps to soften connective tissue throughout the body, ligaments, tendons, and joint capsules. This helps our organs and inner body move and grow to support and birth our baby, but the downside is that there is less structural support for the back and joints.
- Weight gain – our centre of gravity shifts forward as our baby grows and we become heavier, with weakened support from ligaments, which puts additional strain on the back.
- Posture – As our pregnancy progresses, we are likely to adopt poor postural habits, such as a sway lower back (a curvature in the lower back, which can exacerbate tension and tightness).
- Stress – making a baby and preparing for parenthood is a huge stress, as well as other life and pregnancy stressors. This can cause muscle tension in the body, which can lead to back pain.
- Contractions – during the last 4-8 weeks of pregnancy, you may experience irregular uterine contractions with increasing frequency and intensity, and these will often result in pain radiating to the back.
Is severe back pain normal during pregnancy?
Aches and pains are fairly common in pregnancy, but if you are experiencing severe pain, you must get this checked by your healthcare provider.
Thrive reproductive nurse and fertility expert, Marie Otsuka, says: “Red flag signs which need to be checked by your doctor include tingling, muscle spasm, sharp pain, vaginal bleeding, or water leaking. As well as uterine contractions that become increasingly painful in closer intervals.”
What else can cause back pain in pregnancy?
So, what’s normal and what’s not? Here are some other issues that could cause you to feel back pain during pregnancy:
Kidney infection or UTI?
Back pain could also be a sign of a UTI or a kidney infection. UTI symptoms include pelvic pain and lower belly discomfort; there can also be back or side pain. You might experience fever, nausea and vomiting, blood in the urine, or burning and painful urination. If you are worried you could have a UTI or kidney infection, see your doctor immediately.
Lumbar strain & weak core
Typically, in the later stages of pregnancy, the abdominal muscles separate (also known as diastasis recti) to accommodate your growing baby. This weakens the core muscles, giving less protection to the lower back and making it easier to strain the lumbar spine.
Pelvic girdle pain and SI-Joint Dysfunction
Pelvic Girdle Pain refers to all pain in the pelvis and hips, but SI-Joint dysfunction is when there is pain radiating specifically from the sacroiliac joints. Pelvic Girdle Pain is common in pregnancy, with reports that it affects about a quarter of all pregnancies (2). These conditions are due to relaxin, which is fabulous as it helps our body to prepare for and give birth to our baby, but it means joints can become unstable. Check our Thrive article here on how to relieve hip pain.
Can your baby’s position hurt your back?
Generally, your baby’s position won’t hurt your back, although according to our Thrive Fertility expert, Marie, very occasionally you could feel some pressure on your tailbone or spine. But during childbirth, if your baby is in a posterior presentation, this will lead to what is commonly called “Back Labour”, which is when the baby’s head is pressing against the mother’s sacrum. This means the labour is longer and more painful. There are ways to help turn a posterior baby, and many of our prenatal yoga poses help to encourage our baby into the optimal foetal position, which is when the baby’s head is down and facing the mother’s back, with the chin tucked in.
Sciatica from nerve compression
Spinal compression can squeeze the sciatic nerve, creating inflammation, which might feel like a shooting, tingling, or radiating pain that travels from the pelvis and lower back down the leg. To help relieve this, you might like to use a heat or cold pack, have a warm shower, or do some gentle movement.
Safe ways to relieve back pain now
Luckily, there are ways to help soothe away the pain and discomfort of a pregnancy backache.
Heat, cold & maternity support belts
Heat can be very relaxing on tight muscles, but check the temperature – make sure it is warm and not hot – if using a heat pad, use it on the lowest heat setting as your core temperature in pregnancy is already warmer than usual, and you can risk overheating. Only use it for around ten minutes at a time, and place a piece of material between the heat pad and your skin so it isn’t used directly on your skin.
Cold packs can help with inflammation, and you might like to alternate between a hot and a cold pack on the area that is sore.
Another option to help relieve back pain is using a maternity support belt. These can be purchased at pharmacies and from physiotherapists. They offer extra support for the abdomen and lower belly and are worn over the sacrum and hips, below your baby bump.
Prenatal stretches & yoga poses
Yoga is one of the best ways to relieve pregnancy back pain. Check out our blogs for helping to ease lower back pain. Pregnancy is the perfect time to start yoga if you don’t practice already. It helps you connect with your body and your baby, easing niggling prenatal symptoms and helping you prepare for birth. There is a range of yoga poses that can provide instant relief and soothe away back pain.
Pregnancy posture tips for back pain
- Be careful when doing balances – always keep one foot on the floor and rest on the toes of your other foot, rather than standing on one leg.
- Avoid deep lunges and twists; opt for gentle movements instead.
- Keep your feet facing the same direction when standing to help keep your pelvis stable.
- Don’t take your feet wider than hip distance.
- Avoid deep stretches; remember, relaxin will make you feel more flexible, so only go to about 80 per cent of your capacity.
Ergonomic posture
If you have a desk job, make sure you take regular breaks to gently move your body. You may like to do some slow hip rotations or a standing Cat-Cow (place your feet about hip distance apart and rest your hands above your knees. As you exhale, tuck your tailbone under and move each vertebrae in turn until your chin rests towards your chest, then reverse the movement on your inhale, uncurling from the tailbone until your gaze is forward and your shoulder blades gently squeezing together. Repeat about 3-5 times.
Sleep position
Lie on your side with your knees bent and a pillow or cushion between your legs. This will help to support your pelvis. As your pregnancy develops, you may also like to place a small cushion under your belly for extra support.
Thrive Expert tips and recommendations for back pain
Katie’s posture tip for back pain
Try to take shorter steps to keep the pelvis stable. I remember a physiotherapist telling me to imagine I was wearing a miniskirt throughout my pregnancy, to remind me to take smaller steps. She also said to climb stairs one at a time and be particularly careful when getting into and out of cars and putting on socks and shoes.
Marie’s tip for practice preparation for back pain
Wear low-heeled shoes during pregnancy and a maternity belt. Engage in gentle exercise and undergo physical therapy, such as a pregnancy massage.
Sarah’s yoga recommendation
Come along to a Thrive Journey Prenatal Yoga class where you’ll connect to your body, enjoy movement and strengthening, release fear, tension and pain and learn breathing tools for a calm state of mind, childbirth skills for confidence and parenting and relaxation tools to minimize stress, self criticism and maintain a good sense of humour!
Back off, back pain!
Hopefully, you now understand why so many women ask the question: Why does my back hurt so bad in pregnancy? And you have the knowledge to know when that back ache is normal and when it’s not, as well as lots of safe and easy ways to ease discomfort. Join our Thrive Journey program and enjoy personal support during each stage of your pregnancy, plus a range of tailored yoga routines and guided relaxations to ensure you and your unborn baby are well supported.
References:
- Up to 70 percent of women experience back pain in pregnancy (American Pregnancy Association). https://americanpregnancy.org/healthy-pregnancy/pregnancy-health-wellness/back-pain-during-pregnancy/ (2): It has been estimated that 20% to 25% of pregnant women experience PGP severely enough to seek medical care. This was reported in the Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation journal.
- Małgorzata Starzec-Proserpio, Daria Lipa, Jacek Szymański, Agata Szymańska, Anna Kajdy, Barbara Baranowska, Association Among Pelvic Girdle Pain, Diastasis Recti Abdominis, Pubic Symphysis Width, and Pain Catastrophizing: A Matched Case–Control Study, Physical Therapy, Volume 102, Issue 4, April 2022, pzab311, https://doi.org/10.1093/ptj/pzab311