As a mother of two wonderful children, I can personally attest to how being pregnant, childbirth, and the postpartum recovery period can affect a woman’s body. As you are aware, many changes occur during the multiple phases of pregnancy from a mental, emotional, and physical responses. There is also an increasing amount of evidence as to why women see spine specialists for care at higher rates then men.
I recently read an article about whether there was a “price to pay” for childbearing and how that relates to lower back pain. The article goes on to highlight how there is a lot of literature and research surrounding pelvic floor dysfunction – especially with urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, but I found it interesting that we have known about the need for physical therapy after childbirth was first published in 1949.
In my practice, I have seen an increase in the number of women for lower back and pelvic issues. According to the journal article, “Back pain point prevalence is around 9% across all adults. Among pregnant women, however, this number approaches 50% for low back pain and pelvic pain”.
Enjoy!