Posture: Does it Matter? Part 1—Pregnancy
Most of us have been told at least once in our lives to straighten our shoulders - to sit up tall - to not slouch. Good posture. Bad posture. What does it mean and does it matter?
Posture is the position in which someone holds their body when sitting or standing. Our posture can change, molding the structure of our muscles, fascial connections, and skeletal system over time, based on the activities we do frequently during our day. Like everything, the correlation between ‘good’ posture, ‘bad’ posture, and their effects fall along a spectrum. The average 30-something-year old adult holds an adequate enough posture that they are able to go about their day without much concern. The human body adapts to ‘bad’ postural habits and compensates in undetectable ways. A person might continue on their daily lives without much thought to it unless experiencing pain.
However, pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum creates new postural challenges in the body, and is often a wake-up call that draws attention to preexisting postural habits that a woman might have otherwise ignored. During pregnancy the entire body shifts to make room for the growing baby. It only makes sense that posture changes too. Several mechanical things occur that work against maintaining proper alignment. For one, the entire center of gravity has moved forward (hello baby bump), pulling the lumbar spine inwards resulting with a more significant lower back curve (I call it the duck walk or booty pop). The neck and shoulders tense up, the thoracic spine (chest/ribs) thrust forward. Weight distribution in the feet shift forward further towards the toes versus the heels. These changes thrown into the mix of pre-pregnancy postural misalignment is often involved in the underlying cause of issues such as shortness of breath, diastasis recti abdominis, pelvic organ prolapse, back and sacroiliac pain.
Poor postural alignment happens naturally. It doesn’t mean you’re out of shape or not taking care of yourself. Maintaining proper posture during pregnancy requires practice.
Maintain proper standing positioning by
Photo by: Spinalogy Clinic
Changing your standing position frequently during long periods of standing or taking sitting breaks
Avoid high heels—they cause your body weight to shift even more forward
Ideal situation: ~70% of weight distributed to the heels, approximately 30% in toes/ball of foot
3-D breathing (or 360 degree breathing) techniques
Contract the abdominals and glutes as a natural stabilizer/corset for your lower back. Learning deep core activation is a great way to do this!
Support to maintain proper sitting posture by
Photo by Everwell Family Chiropractic
Knees level to your hips
Have the chair support the length of your thighs
Distribute evenly on both hips
Sit with a small towel roll or pillow at the curve of the back for support
Both feet on the floor—legs uncrossed
Sit with back straight, shoulders directly above hips, minimal to no gap between buttocks and back of chair
Avoid sitting in same position for over 30 minutes
Support to maintain proper side-lying posture by
Lying on your side is a great position to relieve lower back pressure while not decreasing blood flow
Place pillow between your legs—this decreases back strain and supports the top leg
Pillow under head
Body pillow or a few pillows behind you feels comforting and provides back support