Postural Changes in Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a time of great change for the mother’s body. Postural changes in pregnancy can happen overnight. As the fetus grows in size, the demands on the mother’s body increase. The center of mass of the mother’s body moves forward, and the body needs to compensate to keep standing upright.
Body Changes and Shifting Center of Mass
The shifting center of mass causes some muscles to be put on stretch, and some muscles need to work harder to stand upright. This can result in weakness and pain. Key impacts of shifting center of mass include:
- Muscles put on stretch: Leads to potential weakness.
- Increased muscle workload: Required to maintain an upright position.
- Compensatory changes: Developed to balance the forward-moving center of mass.
Upper Body Changes in Pregnancy
Shifting the head and neck forward can cause neck pain, headaches, jaw pain and tension, pain between the shoulder blades, carpal tunnel syndrome, and arm nerve irritation. Tight muscles in the back of the neck and front of the chest wall can lead to pain. Also, weakness between the shoulder blades can be a driver of these types of pain.
Management and Physical Therapy
Gentle exercises for flexibility and stabilization can help reduce the aches and pains commonly associated with postural changes during pregnancy. Working with a women’s health physical therapist can benefit and prevent these postural changes. Whether you choose to begin during pregnancy or during postpartum, it is all beneficial. It is common to have these postural changes persist in the postpartum time unless care is taken to change the developed compensations.
Muscles that become tight and weak need flexibility and stability exercises to improve the female’s function and health during and after pregnancy. You can work with our Freedom Women’s Health team to help reduce painful postural changes both during and postpartum.