Postnatal Pelvic Girdle Pain/Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction.

 What happens after the birth?

The majority of women recover in the first few months after giving birth with some noticing an immediate improvement.  Others  do continue to  experience problems, and for a few women the symptoms may persist for years. Women often delay in seeking help as they are told that it is “just their hormones settling down”  and to wait six months or a year to see if the symptoms settle on their own account.

For some women, symptoms of pelvic girdle pain develop only after the birth and not during pregnancy. 

Seek help early and ask for a referral to a physiotherapist with experience of managing this condition  if you are experiencing symptoms  after the birth which are either new or ongoing.  Don’t accept advice just to “wait and see"

Studies on postnatal women have shown that if the condition is untreated an estimated 1 in 14 of the women affected still have significant pain 2 years later.

Post Natal Pelvic Girdle Pain and Physiotherapy

Claire Small is a specialist musculoskeletal physiotherapist in London.

Click here to access an article written by Claire entitled "Post Partum Health for Mothers"

Explaining Symptoms to family and friends

It can be very difficult to explain to those close to you how your symptoms of pelvic girdle pain may be affecting you day to day life and why you may be unable to take part in everything you previously took for granted.

One comment I found very difficult to deal with  at a time when I was in a lot of pain was "but you look so well!" I started to worry that people might think I was "putting it on" or "making a fuss about nothing" while other mums carried on as normal.

I have included a  link below to an article written by Christine Miserandino who is a writer, blogger, speaker and patient advocate from New York. I hope that  you might find it helpful if you are  recovering from pelvic girdle pain and are struggling, like I did, to explain to family and friends why I couldn't do everything I could do before and how I had to pace myself throughout the day.

Christine's  website  ButYoudontLookSick.com is about living life to the fullest with any disability, invisible disease, or chronic pain and features a collection of articles, personal stories, book and product reviews, health resources and an active message board for the disabled, or those living with chronic pain or illness.

Christine has lupus and wrote  The Spoon Theory when she was struggling  to explain to a friend how living with a chronic illness affected her day to day life and the decisions she had to make on a daily basis. it will strike a chord with anyone living with chronic pain or disability not just lupus and may be helpful when trying to explain your condition to family, friends and colleagues.

To access the Spoon Theory Click Here.

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