Pregnancy Hip Pain and Lower Back Hip PainPregnancy hip pain is one of those issues MANY expectant moms deal with. If yours occurs during the day, it's difficult to walk around...if it's at night, it's either difficult to find a comfortable position at all, but when you do fall asleep, frequently it wakes you up! Is there any hope?! Well, once the baby's born you'll definitely sleep well again, but these tactics helped me to get a better nights of sleep when I was pregnant with my daughter, and helped some of my students of my Natural Childbirth Classes.
Get an egg crate cushion or two for your mattress.
This can offer just that little bit more softness to keep the pressure point in your hip to drive you insane. Have a TON of pillows! I had TWO body pillows, which moved all over the bed at night, frequently disturbing my hubby, but then he was awake to help me maneuver them into the perfect position! :) Sleeping on your side is said to be the healthiest for you and the baby, due to the position of the blood vessels which lie between the uterus and your spine. In other words, if you sleep on your back, the baby will 'smoosh' the hose bringing the blood to your legs, and back to your heart...not the best idea. The bummer is that sleeping on your side is crazy when you have pregnancy hip pain that's caused by pressure! So, sometimes, the position which worked best was to hug one or two of the body pillows and lean a little more over to the front, so that the hip bone is slightly off the mattress...OR put the body pillows behind you, so that you can lean back slightly, to take the pressure off the hip bone. Put pillows above and below the hip bone, to keep it completely off the mattress. This strategy gets you a little high off the bed, but it may be the only thing to completely alleviate the pain. This would be about the same as using some kind of doughnut pillow, and putting your hip bone in the center.
If your pregnancy hip pain or low back hip pain is more during the day, there may be some muscular tightness that is more your issue. As our bellies grow with babes, we sometimes get the 'baby belly shuffle', which turns our feet out, making some muscles in our tushies get tight. These muscles are sometimes a real pain, particularly if they clamp down on your sciatic nerve and cause pain down your leg! In this case, your husband may be able to help you with a bit of a massage on your glute, with you lying on your side on the bed. The other thing that can help is sitting on the floor or bed, with a large ball, softball size or larger-if you can find a ball a little softer than a softball, since they are just too hard. You may be able to get some help with the discomfort, by using the glute stretch pictured. It's one way to stretch the muscles of your rump without laying on your back.
As always if you are experiencing pregnancy hip pain or lower back hip pain, check with your doctor to rule out anything serious, but a great massage from a prenatal certified therapist will go a long way to alleviating a ton of pregnancy related discomfort, as well as be healthy for you and your baby!!
Fort Collins Childbirth Education
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