Back Pain During Pregnancy

When a couple decides to have their very first baby, they would usually think about the great things of pregnancy. Movies would show us the great things about pregnancy such as the increased bond of husband and wife and the happy disposition that the extended family enjoys. While these things hold true to many couples, no woman can ever escape all the pain that is bundled with every pregnancy.

Pain during pregnancy may vary in intensity, duration, quality, timing, and location. Some women are able to tolerate pain while some others would consider random fetal movements to be very painful. Among the most annoying pains over the course of pregnancy are the back pains.

Back pains are caused by a variety of reasons. These pains are not present during the early weeks of pregnancy and if they are, then it is most likely not pregnancy related. The real back pains of pregnancy occur during the later parts of pregnancy when the baby starts to grow. As the fetus inside the womb grows, women would naturally and eventually assume a lordotic posture. This posture is characterised by the lumbar part of the spine to curve inside causing the buttocks to assume a higher position than usual. This change is a supportive mechanism of the body in order to cradle the growing fetus without causing a change in significant balance to the mother. Such a change in posture would result to recurrent back pains of the mother because of the weight of the fetus is being supported by the back muscles. These muscles are not supposed to be used when supporting heavy things (including the fetus) because the muscles on the back are small and thin. Recurrent use of such muscles will result to severe lordosis and sometimes strain in the muscle fibres of the back. With the change in the position of the lower back, it will actually cause the thorax to compensate which would result to the stooped posture of kyphosis. Such a posture will contribute to the added weight to the abdomen because the breasts and the weight of the head will now be concentrated on the upper portion of the abdomen.

Relieving the back pains of pregnancy is easy. It will require practice and patience. The first thing that women should do is to practice proper body mechanics. This means that the body should be coordinated in every way so that it will not produce more stress on the back. Maintenance of the centre of gravity is the key to this practice and this means holding a wide base of support. Using the right muscles to move should be done. The muscles of the back should not be used but instead it should be relieved with the right upright posture. When walking, the pregnant woman should not lean back too much because it will add a lot of weight to the back muscles and it will also cause low blood pressure because of the compression of the super vena cava by the weight of the growing fetus.

Medications should be avoided when treating these back pains because they may be teratogenic to the fetus. With frequent walking and non strenuous exercise, back pains will be eliminated in a few weeks.