Pregnancy related back pain is very common and can affect between 50-75% of women at some point during their pregnancy. Back pain can occur at any time, but particularly between the fifth and seventh months of pregnancy, when pregnant women carry the most additional weight.
What most women may not know is that, during pregnancy the female body gains an average of two and half stones in weight. While a typical baby at birth might weigh around 8 pounds, the extra weight comes from the following surprising additions:
· Baby: 8 pounds
· Placenta: 2-3 poundsv
· Amniotic fluid: 2-3 pounds
· Breast tissue: 2-3 pounds
· Blood supply: 4 pounds
· Stored fat for delivery and breastfeeding: 5-9 pounds
· Larger uterus: 2-5 pounds
· Total: 25-35 pounds (2.5 stone)
Dr Brian Hammond, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of BackCare, the national back pain charity, said; “As your baby develops your centre of gravity changes and you lean backwards without realising it. Hormonal changes relax the ligaments in the pelvis and lower back which can aggravate pre-existing conditions which were pain-free before pregnancy. Your abdominal muscles help support the spine, and in pregnancy these muscles are stretched and become weakened.”
The condition, has been dubbed ‘Baby Back’ by Simplyhealth and experts at the charity BackCare, who have created The Simplyhealth BackCare App, a free App designed to offer much needed help and advice on pregnancy pain relief for ‘Baby Back’ sufferers. Even better, every time a mum to be downloads the App from the App store or Google Play TM (a trademark of Google Inc) Simplyhealth will donate £1 to BackCare to help fund further research into causes, prevention and management of back pain during pregnancy and beyond.
