Experiencing the Pregnancy Waddle?
If you are pregnant chances are you are experiencing the pregnancy waddle, or soon will be. But did you know that this waddle can be a sign of instability and can create a chain reaction of things in your body?
First off we don’t truly know the specific reasons the pregnancy waddle occurs, honestly it can be caused by a number of factors such as the baby’s position, the amount of fluid retention and even the widening of your pelvic bones.
As a way to accommodate all of these changes a pregnant person will commonly respond by broadening their stance and rotating their hips out. This can lead to a lot of tension in the piriformis (a deep muscle in your butt) and tension in some other external hip rotators. Not only that, but your feet tend to turn out and your knee and foot don’t really align at the hip joint, which prevents your iliopsoas (a low back/abdominal muscle) from efficiently stabilizing your pelvis when you walk. Because of this your glute med (one of your butt muscles) has to abduct or lift the thigh in order to help your quads complete a step. A lot is happening!
This can make walking or standing straight up difficult, you may feel pain in your hips, back or legs and you may generally feel instability or unbalanced.
The next time you stand or start walking try this:
Be intentional about bringing your feet under your hips
Tuck your pelvis into a neutral position
Adjust your shoulders back and down
Tuck your chin in slightly
Be sure to maintain this position while walking. If you want to see what this looks like, check out my video below.
Additionally prenatal massage is a great way to help mitigate any of the painful aches and pains that come with the pregnancy waddle, and in session. I can even walk you through something called Structural Balancing Education, where I help guide your body into a more neutral position, so you can be more comfortable in your body.
If you find that you need more guidance and bodywork specific to balancing your body for pain, I would also recommend reading more about a Spinning Babies® Body Balancing session, to see if it would be a better fit.
Click the button below to book your next session.