Round ligament pain during pregnancy is common and happens because your uterus is stretching causing an intense stretch on your round ligament. The round ligament connects from your uterus to your pelvis and as your pregnancy progresses that round ligament is getting stretched and can cause pain and discomfort.
What Does Round Ligament Pain feel like:
It can feel like a sharp cramp, ache or pain on one side of your lower belly. I find it typically starts after baby hits a growth spurt causing more stretching on the round ligament.
What Causes Round Ligament Pain:
Not having a pelvic floor and deep core that is properly strengthened. Which means that there isn’t the support the round ligament needs. Also moving too quickly, too suddenly or doing short bursts of exercises with quick movements can cause the round ligament to tighten even more because the deep core isn’t strengthened correctly.
Natural Relief for Round Ligament Pain:
Most important is to learn how to effectively strengthen your pelvic floor and deep core muscles. I find when my prenatal clients strengthen their core effectively their round ligament pain goes away. And no I’m not talking about crunches – please don’t do those while pregnant – crunches can contribute to pain and diastasis recti.
How to effectively strengthen your pelvic floor and deep core during pregnancy:
- Stop doing intense abdominal exercises. Know that when you engage your deep core correctly you will be strengthening you core with all movements so there’s no need to do actually “ab” exercises during pregnancy
- Learn to release and relax through your pelvis, pelvic floor and belly. Most women are actually too tight and this causes and imbalance in strength.
- Learn to properly engage your pelvic floor while lightly hugging your baby (from under your belly), avoid drawing your belly to your spine, and lengthen tall through the top of your head.
- Practice, practice, practice. Join the thousands of other women who’ve learned these exact methods inside the Knocked-Up Fitness(R) Prenatal Program here.
It’s time to say good-bye to that uncomfortable round ligament pain. When my clients learn how to properly strengthen her core during pregnancy she notices a dramatic improvement in her round ligament pain, and for many the round ligament pain completely goes away.
