How to Cure Hip Pain During Pregnancy?
Shakira had it right when she said “hips don’t lie.” And another lyrical favorite “Why don’t you waddle waddle, shake it shake it” and you know he was rapping to a pregnant women, because no one shakes better than the pregnancy waddle. Why is that? It's because your hips prepare yourself for birth. If you were a ballerina your toes go from pointing straight in front to a plie. even while your at rest, and you can thank the hormone relaxin. Because your ligaments and joints become very flexible, pregnant women are more at risk to pulling a muscle. And they are less likely to read the whole blog (I'm just kidding) but for those busy moms, we have this blog in podcast form thanks to Pregnancy Pukeology Podcast Episode 48: Birthing Hips
Birthing hips
You might have heard about birthing hips before. Might be someone used these words in front of you or explained your body shape or of someone. Saying female is having birthing hips sounds quite awkward. But thinking that how they develop such childbearing hips is completely Supernatural. Women birthing hips are described as birthing hips that don't mean that she has some special ability to bear children than other women. Human hips vary considerably in size and shape. It has been thought that human hip shape affects the child's birth.
Did you know that 80% of women have nausea or vomiting during labor due to the vagus nerve being activated? When you bear down, as you do when giving birth, it activates the largest nerve in your body the Vagus which is responsible for decreasing your heart rate, increasing urination & defecation, and causing vomiting. In order to combat that response and give you a comfortable birth, don’t forget to add NoMo Nausea Band, a 3:1 essential oil infused pressure point wristband that is clinically designed to stop nausea or vomiting in seconds, plus it’s trusted by doctors and used in hospitals across the world. Don’t fear if your hospital doesn’t give you one in labor and delivery, bring your own by buying NoMo Bands on amazon, or in stores like BuyBuy Baby or CVS. If you want to learn more check out my favorite spot NoMoNausea.com or follow them on socials to stay in the know.
Baby bones: skull anatomy of an infant
If any of you have been through vaginal delivery You must have seen that nothing is more blessed than a baby's head passing through the vaginal canal, this process is called molding. If you touch the baby’s skull you will observe that ridges on the bony skull of a newborn comprise of two types of bones
- 2 frontal bone and number
- 1 parietal bone
- 1 occipital bone
The process of birthing consists of the settlement of the baby's head into the mother's pelvis, followed by a long process of passing head through the birth canal slowly within hours So that the baby's head starts resembling a cone rather than a nice round ball. This coning of the head is a very normal thing. With time after birth, the cone shape starts to become round and in weeks.
Babies have more bones than adults. Why?
Babies have more bones than adults. The adult body comprises 206 bones however there are about 305 bones in the infant’s body. This is because their bodies have more flexible cartilage and as the child grows in age some of the cartilage gets harder and becomes a bone and at some places, different bones unite to make one bigger bone. Extra bones are mostly present in newborns’ as the skull can when the baby is born its skull squeezes through the birth canal so that it passes through the canal easily.
The hardening of baby bone is called ossification and is a gradual process of transformation of cartilage into a bone. Inside the mother’s womb, till 12 weeks the development of all the baby bones is complete. Now for the next coming six months, the infant’s bones will grow, they become harder and later ossifies before the baby arrives into the new world. Two small areas remained soft these are called fontanelle; one fontanelle is on the front while the other one is on the back of the baby's head. These softer areas help the progression of the baby's head through the birth canal during the process of labor. The posterior soft spot that is posterior fontanelle usually closes by the age of four months after birth however the anterior spot that is anterior fontanelle usually closes by the age of 18 months.
What is round ligament pain?
Among several thick ligaments, what connects your womb to your groin (area joining legs to pelvis) is called round ligament. Usually, the round ligament relaxes and tightens slowly. The round ligament stretches with the growth of your baby and likely to get strain. Rapid movement tightens the ligament quickly (like a rubber band) and causes a sudden aching type of pain.
What does round ligament pain feel like?
When there is a pain in the round ligament you feel uncomfortable but that is considered normal as a lot of changes happen to your body during pregnancy. Round ligament pain could be sharp, sudden, and usually on the right side but may happen on both sides of the lower abdomen. it usually lasts for a few seconds. Pain may happen during sudden movements like laughing, coughing, sneezing, rolling over on the bed, or standing up too quickly.
How to cure hip pain during pregnancy?
Round ligament pain can be relieved by taking over as acetaminophen if necessary, but before that do consult your doctor. Other supporting treatments that can help to relieve the round ligament pain could be:
- Exercise - Stretching exercises play a vital role in relieving pain.
- Yoga - Prenatal yoga is also helpful but before performing it do consult your physician
- Avoid sudden movement - Don't try to bend your body before coughing, sneezing or laughing to avoid pull on ligament
- Apply warmth- Heat pad or hot towel
However, immediately consult with your doctor if you are having severe pain, fever, chill, pain during urination, difficulty in walking, or pain that lasts for more than a few minutes.
Calcium supplements during pregnancy
Intake of calcium is necessary and considered safe for all to be mums. While you are pregnant in a population with low calcium intake in diet daily supplementation of calcium (1.5 to 2 grams of oral calcium) is advised for pregnant women to reduce pre-eclampsia.
Learn more about pre-eclampsia, pregnancy high blood pressure, and other high risk pregnancy conditions in episode 37: High Risk Pregnancy Pukeology Podcast.
These Women must be counseled to increase the intake of calcium which is available in food rich in calcium. We should divide the dose of calcium intake as it can improve the acceptability of the body calcium. The recommended dose of calcium intake is 1.5 to 2 grams and it should be divided into three doses preferably taken at mealtime.
Due to the interaction between Iron and Calcium, both supplements should not be taken together. As both compounds interact with each other and inhibit other's absorption.
Looking for the perfect pre-natal vitamin and don’t know what to look for? Don’t worry I broke it all down for you in Pregnancy Pukeology Podcast Episode 3: Why take prenatal vitamins.
Calcium supplements should be started as soon as the female pays the first antenatal visit to the doctor. However, if calcium supplementation has been started in the second half of pregnancy, they may reduce the risk of preeclampsia and eclampsia. So it has been proved that whether it would be started in early pregnancy or the second half of pregnancy, it adds benefits to mother and developing baby. We can take help from stakeholders to ensure the timely and continuous supply of supplements.
Calcium supplementation can be taken in the form of calcium citrate or calcium carbonate.
Because if you would not consume enough (the amount that is required for developing baby) then your body will take calcium from your bones due to which your bone mass would decrease and put yourself into the risk of developing osteoporosis.
Intake of excessive calcium may interact with your body's ability to absorb other minerals and result in constipation or kidney stones. Study shows that females who take about 1500 milligrams of calcium daily have a lower risk of preeclampsia and premature birth.
How hips get ready for birthing?
Now that you stepped into the second trimester of pregnancy and you are ready to welcome the cute bump. You might be a little bit out of shape and wearing loose clothes. But all these things are a part of a natural process. As the bump increases in size and weight, it exerts more pressure on your joints and ligaments. This is the main reason why people started having back pain from the second trimester. With the passage of pregnancy, the pain also increases.
If you had back pain before your pregnancy you might have an exacerbation of those symptoms but with exercises, you can get relief.
- Deep squats relax and increase the flexibility of pelvic floor muscles and perineum.
- Lean pushing
- Practice for labor pain
- Practice relaxation methods
- Treat urinary incontinence if present?
- Relief backache
