If you’re a new mother you’re likely to be lifting and carrying your baby all day, so it wouldn’t be unusual if you are suffering from back pain.
Think about this – when your baby is first born, you might be lifting 3.5-5kg about 50 times per day, but by the time your child is 1 year old, you’ll be lifting about 8.5kg; and by the time they’re two, you’ll be lifting 12 to 15kg. In other words, your back is in for a lot of stress in the next few years.
The good news is that observing a few simple tips can help to ease the stress on your back and minimise back pain.
Once you’ve recovered from delivery, speak with your obstetrician about when you can safely start to exercise again. Keep in mind if you’ve had a C-section you may need to wait a little longer before you can get back to exercising, but don’t get discouraged.
Once you’ve been given the ‘all clear’ to start exercising, began with restoring your back and hip flexibility by participating in yoga or doing light stretches at home when your baby naps.
- As you’re constantly lifting your baby, ensure you use the correct lifting technique. If your child is on the floor, bending your knees into a squatting position to reach for your baby, bring them in towards your chest so they’re close to your body, tighten your core muscles then lift with your legs into a standing position
- Avoid twisting movements while holding your baby whenever possible
- Avoid carrying your baby on your hip because this overloads the muscles in your back – consider investing in a front carrier or baby wrap as an alternative
- When you’re breastfeeding, sit in an upright chair. Avoid bending over your baby to feed; bring them in toward your breast instead. You can achieve this by placing pillows on your lap or by using a breast-feeding pillow
- When your baby has progressed to sitting in a highchair, remove the highchair tray when you are placing them in the seat or taking them out
- While it may seem convenient to carry your baby in their car seat, this results in you carrying quite a bit of excess weight. Consider placing the seat in the car first then bringing your child to the seat in order to strap them in
- When positioning the seat in your car, remember that the safest place is in the middle. This also allows you to kneel on the cars back seat in order to place your baby into the seat, rather than standing outside of the car and bending awkwardly to put them in
Being a new mother is hard enough without dealing with back pain!
Observing these simple tips will help you to minimise the risk of back pain and let you enjoy every moment with your little one.
