Tips From Moms

Back pain...every pregnant woman has it. It's caused mostly by your growing belly, the extra weight forces you to change your posture causing your center of gravity to shift forward causing major lower back pain, as much as it hurts you can help make it a little bit better. For some women the pain will be only in the last few months of pregnancy, for the unlucky ones they will have it throughout the pregnancy and afterwards as well. Here are some tips to help ease the pain

Warm bath - Taking a long warm bath helps relax your muscles and bones, easing the pain while relaxing your entire body. Be sure that the water is not too hot as that can possibly bring on contractions.

Body pillow - Using a maternity pillow at night is a great way to help ease the pain, keep your legs bent and sleep on your side with a pillow between your legs.

Massage - Getting a massage is very helpful when it comes to back pain, this method relaxes your body and takes away the stress of pregnancy.

No heavy lifting - It is extremely important that you do not lift anything heavy during pregnancy, this can cause major back pain and strains.

Good fitting shoes - Wearing good fitting comfortable shoes is a good way to ease and avoid back pain. Especially if you do a lot of walking.

Swimming - Swimming is a great exercise to help ease and avoid back pain, swimming strengthens your lower back muscles. It also takes the weight of the baby off of you for a short amount of time, easing the stress of all the extra weight on your body.

Rest - Taking a break, laying down a few times a day between each chore or walk is a great way to help your body rest.

Pelvic tilts - Doing pelvic tilts will help ease some back pain, there are different ways to do this exercise. 1. Lay on the floor on your back with your legs bent. Make sure there are no gaps between your back and the floor. Place your hands down on the floor on your sides for extra support. Lift your bottom up slowly as high as you can (not extremely high, between 2-5 inches off the floor) and lower back down.  2. Go on all fours with your hands at shoulder level. Make your back as straight as possible while looking at the floor under you. Allow your baby to drop towards the floor, lift your tailbone upwards and try to look up as high as you can. Now pull your baby up towards you, drop your tailbone towards the floor and try to look at your stomach. Exhale as you look up, and inhale as you look down.

Hot & Cold - Using warmth and cold does help a lot when it comes to body aches and back pain. Try using a hot pack or a cold pack, whichever suits your pain best. 

Tylenol - Tylenol is safe during pregnancy and it can reduce your back pain a lot.

If all of these remedies fail be sure to contact your doctor about it, it may be something a lot worse. It is always better to be safe than sorry, it is a good idea to always to go the emergency room instead of waiting for the doctor for more serious problems. They will fax the results and diagnosis to his/her office.