It’s estimated half of all pregnant women suffer from some kind of lower back pain during pregnancy or after their pregnancies.
German researchers found that new mums who received osteopathic treatment were in less pain then those who didn't. In the 2 month study, 80 women, aged 23 to 42, with low back pain were surveyed at three to 15 months postpartum.
Women in one group received four osteopathic treatments at two week intervals, while participants in the control group did not receive therapy and were not allowed any additional pain relief treatment, such as medication.
On average, those who received osteopathic manipulative therapy reported a 73 per cent decrease in pain, compared to only seven per cent in the control group.
Every pregnancy is different, but back and pubic pain is common in the second half of the pregnancy. When it comes to the delivery, it can take anything from 30 minutes to 3 days! Some women end up with interventions like forceps, caesarean or episiotomies. So there are a lot of reasons to for women to get treated after giving birth.
Fellow osteopath and mum of two, Dr Caroline, puts it really well:
“Then, you’ve got the postures of breastfeeding, you’re lifting your baby in and out of a car, you’re lifting a baby in and out of a capsule - so that combined with the strains of labour and strains of pregnancy as well can lead to lower back pain and problems.”
