How to Get In & Out of Bed Without Pelvic Pain During Pregnancy
Getting in and out of bed, and rolling over, while pregnant can be a real pain in the PELVIS! Many describe this discomfort as a sharp stabbing pain across their pubic bone when they try to move or change positions.
The medical term used to describe this condition is called, Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction, or SPD for short. This often develops during pregnancy when muscles on one side of the pelvis become much tighter than the other, causing a rotation between the two sides, creating pain across the pubic bone. The good news is I've helped many of my patients overcome these common aches and pains with the three tips below.
Curious to learn more tips like this? Interested in pregnancy appropriate exercises and education to prepare your pelvic floor for your upcoming birth? Check out my Pelvic Floor Birth Prep Course.
✅ Tip #1 - Exhale as You Move
When I’m first teaching my patients with pelvic pain how to move, they’re often holding their breath, especially when they are anticipating pain. This breath holding strategy is a big contributor to SPD and pelvic floor discomfort because it increases muscle tightness around the pelvis. Exhaling while you move is essential. Your breath helps activate your core and pelvic floor, meaning less stress on your pubic bone as a result. I’ll explain more specifically about how to breathe in tip #3.
✅ Tip #2 - Mermaid Legs
It’s common to have inner thigh tightness during pregnancy. This is because as your belly grows, your legs gradually rotate outward to create a more stable base beneath you. In order to do this, the inner thigh muscles have to lengthen, but if those muscles aren’t strong enough, tightness can occur. Because the inner thigh muscles attach at multiple locations around the pubic bone, this tightness can contribute to the development of SPD.
Keeping your legs close together (Mermaid Legs) decreases these pulling forces and provides support around your pubic bone. I recommend doing this with a supportive pillow between your legs that keeps your knees hip distance apart for optimal comfort. I’ll explain how to incorporate this in tip #3.
✅ Tip #3 - The Log Roll Technique
The log roll technique is essential throughout your pregnancy, and also in the early weeks of your postpartum healing. It involves keeping your ribcage stacked over your pelvis when you are getting in/out of bed or rolling over by minimizing any twisting/bending (keep your body like a log throughout). This alignment allows the muscles to work more evenly around your torso and pelvis, which helps decrease extra loading and compression on the pelvic floor and pubic bone most specifically. So let’s go over how to combine your exhale, mermaid legs, and log roll all together!
Begin sitting at the edge of your bed with your mermaid legs gently hugged around your pillow (think 50% effort). Inhale to prepare, expanding your breath down into your torso and pelvis, then exhale like you’re blowing candles out as you hug your lower abdominals around your baby as you lie down. Notice how your muscles and breath helped to support your body and pelvis throughout the movement. Once you’re on your side, inhale again, then exhale to hug your baby with your low abdominals as you turn onto your back (press your elbow into the bed to help with the rotation), still keeping your mermaid tail moving with you. Notice how your breath helps coordinate the muscles to engage around your torso. Feel free to use one more breath if your goal is to fully turn over to the other side. Finally, when you’re ready to return back up to sitting, you’ll use your exhale and mermaid legs once again.
While pelvic pain is common during pregnancy, know that there are options and you don’t have to just “deal with it.” If you are still experiencing SPD even after exploring the tips shared here in this video, I highly recommend connecting with a pelvic floor physical therapist near you to support the changes that your body is going through and gain confidence about how to incorporate supportive strength work for the muscles around your pelvis to resolve your symptoms. Doing so early on will help set your pelvis up for success for your future labor and delivery journey as well!
