When your pregnancy bump starts to grow, your centre of gravity with it changes. This can cause great discomfort and although there is little you can do to stop symptoms completely, there are a few postural considerations that you can put in place and exercises you can do to alleviate the issue and make things much easier on yourself.

Read my top tips on how to help prevent postural problems both during and after the pregnancy.

1. What postural changes occur?
2. Maintaining good posture whilst pregnant.
3. Ways to avoid aggravating posture.
4. Safe pre-natal stretches.
5. Safe post-natal stretches.

What postural changes occur?

During pregnancy, as the weight and size of the baby starts to increase, the lower area of the spine (lumbar) is pulled forward. This throws off the centre of gravity as the weight is not distributed over the hips and pelvis evenly but towards the front of the body. The muscles in the lower back tighten and shorten and the muscles in the upper back are generally pulled or ‘hunched’ forward, therefore stretching them. There are many other postural changes which occur along with the shortening and lengthening of a variety of different muscle groups. The lower back however, is an area that causes most women problems to some degree in pregnancy.

Maintaining good posture whilst pregnant.

Although perfect posture cannot be maintained completely during pregnancy, there are a few steps you can take to improve flexibility and eliminate aches and pains. Just general posture is a good place to start, so thinking about how you are standing, sitting and walking will all help. Whilst sitting, think about using a pillow at your lower back for additional support and if you work in an office environment make sure your HR department carry out an adequate risk assessment of your desk set up.

Walk tall and tighten your tummy muscles – Imagine you have a book on your head and develop a ‘proud to be pregnant’ strut!

Ways to avoid aggravating posture.

Many of the ways in which you would avoid causing postural issues whilst pregnant, are one and the same for non-pregnant individuals. Obvious ones like bending the knees when picking things up as opposed to bending over. Or not leaning over your desk to type on your computer key pad at work. There are additional ones for pregnancy though, as the changes in posture are far more significant during this period in your life.
A few ideas would be:

• Tightening the gluteals (buttocks) when standing/walking (to help adjust the centre of gravity)
• Keeping abdominals lightly engaged (to support back)
• Keep the knees ‘soft’ when standing (locking the knees increases curvature on lower back)
• Maintain a pelvic tilt whilst sitting and don’t slouch
• When sleeping, side lying is recommended and use of a maternity pillow can help to take pressure off lower back.
• Avoid sitting with crossed legs as this can contribute to varicose veins.

Safe pre-natal stretches.

Once again the relaxin hormone rears its rascal of a head and means that caution is required when performing stretches. Only gentle stretches should be carried out in pregnancy but even mild stretching is enough to keep aches and pains at bay and reduce the work you need to do after the birth!

• Shoulder circles
  Standing or sitting in a relaxed and neutral posture, gently roll the shoulders backwards for 10 reps and then forwards for 10 reps. This is great for training the shoulders to sit in the correct posture and is also good for easing off tension in the upper back and shoulder area.
• Standing pelvic tilt
  Standing in neutral posture against a wall, tilt the pelvis forward as if you are trying to flatten your lower back to the wall. You will probably be unlikely to do this but the aim is to focus on improved postural alignment. Repeat up to 10 times.
• Cat Stretch-
  Place your hands and knees on the floor about shoulder/hip width apart. Slowly lift the back upwards, contracting your abdomen lightly (imagine how a cat stretches), then relax the hips and roll back down to a neutral position. Your back should be flat at this point, not slumped forward. Repeat up to 10 times.
• Low back stretch
  Start in the same position as above but slowly sit back on your heels. Obviously you may need to adjust your knee width according to bump size! Hold the position for a few seconds and return to start position and repeat up to 10 times.

Safe post-natal stretches.

Once you enter the post natal period, you are a lot less prone to injury and this is the time when (once recovered) you can really put all your efforts into regaining pre pregnancy fitness and posture. You do however, have to remember that relaxin can remain in your system for at least 6 months beyond delivery, so avoiding resistance based stretching would be advisable.

The pre-natal stretches above are a great place to start in the early post natal days but without the ‘obstacle’ of the bump, you are of course able to do much more!

1. Knees to chest
   A great lower back exercise for regaining flexibility and easing any aches your are experiencing. Simply lie flat on your back and draw your knees into your chest whilst keeping your head and shoulder on the floor. Repeat 10 times.
2. Trunk twist
   Lying flat on your back relax the knees over to the left and your arms across your upper body to the right. Try to keep your upper back flat, only stretching from the waist down. Swap sides and repeat 10 times each side. This is a great way to get back lower back flexibility also.
3. Posture toner
   Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Slowly press your lower back into the floor and tighten your abdominals at the same time. This is a great postural corrector and not only realigns the lower back but strengthens the abdominals too.

Photography:Peter Barr-Watson @Flickr