How to Reduce Low-Back Pain During Pregnancy

Throughout the stages of pregnancy, expectant mothers can experience a myriad of symptoms that can make them feel not-so-at-home in their bodies. One of these uncomfortable symptoms, low-back pain, plagues a staggering 50% of new moms throughout all 3 trimesters. If you’re a new mom to be and this sounds like you, read on to find out how to remedy or at least lessen your low back pain through prenatal yoga and fitness. 

Low Back Pain: Causes

So you’re a new mom in your first trimester and your peanut is still very much, well, a peanut but you’re experiencing crazy low back pain. What gives? Shouldn’t low back pain be reserved for the latter months when baby is, I don’t know, the size of a watermelon? 

In a perfect world, yes, and mama we commiserate with you. But the body has other plans in mind. During the unfolding of each of the stages of pregnancy, your changing body begins to produce a hormone called “relaxin”. Aptly-named, this hormone causes the ligaments in the pelvis to soften to widen the hips in preparation for birth. This process can cause some instability within the low-back area and pelvic region, which in turn causes pain for you.

As your belly grows, the added pressure from the weight of the pregnancy as well as your growing baby can amplify these symptoms causing even more discomfort. Fun right? 

Not to worry, where there’s a will there’s a way --- or in this case--- where there’s low back pain, there’s prenatal yoga and fitness classes to combat that relaxin hormone so that you feel more stable and experience less pain. That’s right, by utilizing the right yoga poses and strengthening your core region as well as your hips and back, you can find relief right at your local yoga studio and fitness center. 

Exercise to Reduce Symptoms

Since that pesky hormone reduces the stability of the pelvis, the best way to combat this ripple effect is through stabilizing exercises for the abs, hips, glutes, and lumbar spine. Just as important, releasing the tension built in the low-back due to the pelvic instability. Taking prenatal yoga classes as well as prenatal fitness classes during the stages of pregnancy is an effective way as a new mom to begin to not only combat these symptoms, but strengthen your changing body for the birth of your little one. 

Child’s pose, cat, and downward facing dog are all great poses that your yoga instructor can teach you that relieve tension in the low back. While strengthening movements such as warrior pose and tree pose is excellent for opening the hips while engaging the supporting muscles of the glutes, core and legs to reinforce the lower back. 

Building strength in your changing body to prepare for birth is the very best thing you can do to reduce or alleviate or reduce low back pain during pregnancy. By getting involved at your local prenatal yoga studio, you will not only be building your body but a team of support that will be there through every stage of your pregnancy until you meet your new baby. And many yoga centers have classes to support your recovery after pregnancy as well. 

CocoonCare is a pre and postnatal fitness, yoga, and wellness space that caters to women desiring to become mothers, expectant mothers and new moms. Click here to view our class schedule and take advantage of our new student offers with us today.