Pelvic and Hip Pain During Pregnancy: Care Options and Precautions
Updated: Oct 19
Pelvic and hip pain in pregnancy deserves an individualized assessment. Gentle, adapted care may help some symptoms, but adjustments should not be promised to “realign” the pelvis, turn a baby or make birth easier.
Tell your maternity team about the pain
Pain when walking, using stairs, turning in bed or standing on one leg can occur with pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain. Your obstetric clinician or midwife can assess symptoms and discuss referral to a pregnancy-experienced physical therapist.
What conservative care may involve
Advice may include pacing activities, adapting movements and exercises suited to your symptoms. Research on spinal manipulation in pregnancy is limited; discuss its potential benefits and risks with your maternity clinician before proceeding.
Ways to reduce painful demands
- Notice activities that aggravate symptoms and divide them into shorter, manageable periods.
- Sit for tasks such as dressing when balancing on one leg is painful or unstable.
- Ask about comfortable positions for sleep, getting into a car and turning in bed; avoid forcing wide or painful movements.
- Have exercises individualized if stretching worsens pelvic pain. More flexibility is not necessarily the answer.
Pregnancy warning signs come first
Bleeding, fluid leakage, painful regular contractions, fever or a painful swollen calf needs prompt maternity or urgent same-day medical advice. Chest pain, severe breathlessness or fainting requires calling 911 immediately. Do not assume a new symptom is simply a pelvic alignment issue.
Coordinate local musculoskeletal advice
Haywood Spine and Nerve Center is at 136 Waynesville Plaza, Suite 1, Waynesville, NC 28786. Call (828) 456-5700 to ask about an evaluation and appropriate referral. Emergency symptoms need emergency care.
Keep your obstetric team informed of any manual treatment. This article is general education and does not replace prenatal care or diagnose pelvic girdle pain.
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