How to Use 7 Lower Back Pain Stretches During Pregnancy

Your pelvis and spine endure many changes throughout pregnancy to support your growing baby and prepare for childbirth. In this post, you’ll learn everything you may need to know about lower back pain during pregnancy, lower back pain stretches, lower back pain causes, lower back pain right side, lower back pain left side, and lower back treatment including lower back pain yoga and lower back pain relief exercises!

Lower Back Pain Stretches During Pregnancy

You may experience lower pain in late, middle, or early pregnancy! The cause of your pain may be due to pelvic girdle pain, sciatica during pregnancy, or sacroiliac (SI) joint pain.

Check out the posts on each of these ailments to learn more:

Lower Back Pain Causes During Pregnancy

During pregnancy, levels of the hormone relaxin increase. This hormone helps prepare your pelvis for childbirth by relaxing ligaments and widening your hips.

Additionally, as your belly grows with your baby and your ligaments loosen, your center of gravity may also shift.

Each of these factors can lead to pelvic or lower back pain during pregnancy.

Lower Back Pain Treatment

The best tips for relieving pelvic and back pain in pregnancy include:

Warm showers, warm compresses, or a heating pad for 10 minutes at a time. I highly recommend this Extra Large Heating Pad that comes with 6, easy to use, heat settings from Amazon!
Relaxing off of your feet. Still, remember to use good posture to promote optimal positioning of your baby as you near childbirth. Keep your heart space over your pelvis while sitting or lying down.
Avoid sitting for long periods of time
Gently stretch the muscles (keep reading for the best lower back pain stretches during pregnancy!)
Try Kegel exercises and pelvic tilts on your birth ball to help strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. I recommend checking out this Trideer Birth/Exercise Ball as it is a trusted and durable birth ball brand that I have committed to purchasing from for years now as a birth worker!
Swimming for exercise. Because of the buoyancy experienced while in the water, swimming takes the pressure off of the sciatic nerve. Check out: How to Exercise in Pregnancy for a Better Labor
Try alternative therapies, such as acupuncture, chiropractic treatment, and massage therapy. But, be sure to find practitioners who are certified or experienced with treatment during pregnancy!
Also, gaining weight at a steady pace may be advantageous to minimize how quickly your body is experiencing all of these changes, that are already happening quickly as it is!

Ask your midwife or OB for a referral to a physical therapist who will help you build strength and good posture if self-practice and correcting aren’t helping.

Further, if your pelvic and lower back pain don’t resolve completely within a few months of giving birth, talk with your midwife or OB about other possible underlying problems.

How to Sleep with Lower Back Pain During Pregnancy

Tips for getting a great night’s sleep with lower back pain during pregnancy include:

Sleep on your side with a pillow between your legs and good posture. For good posture keep your heart space over your pelvis while sitting or lying down.
Consider sliding a pillow to your back to provide back support with a pillow between your legs for lying down or sleeping. Further, a more firm mattress may provide more back support if needed.
Avoid sitting for long periods of time
Gently stretch the muscles before bed (keep reading for the best lower back pain stretches during pregnancy!)
Sleep on the opposite side of the pain (if the pain is on one side)
Take a warm bath before bed. Consider using Epsom salt in your bath as Epsom salt has been shown possibly reduce pain and swelling [1].
Use lavender essential oil topically or in a diffuser to improve your sleep. I highly recommend Plant Therapy’s Lavender Essential Oil because it is a reasonable price, not an MLM scheme, and tested with a batch number you can look up the information on if needed! Plus, lavender essential oil has been compared to placebos and found to improve quality of sleep [2].

7 Lower Back Pain Stretches

These 7 lower back pain stretches, also known as, lower back pain yoga, will help you gently stretch and relax the muscles, ligaments, and tendons in your pelvis and back to hopefully bring you some relief.

1. knee-hugging circles

First, lie down on your back on a comfortable surface like a yoga mat if you have one.

Next, bring your knees into your chest, and while holding them in with your arms and hands, relax your arms to allow your knees to make circles, massaging your lower back on the ground.

Further, try to keep your head relaxed on the ground during this stretch and release tension in your shoulders as well.

2. happy baby

First, lie down on your back and grab the inner or outer feet. Activate this strecth by pushing your feet into your hands and countering the push slightly with your hands into your feet.

Then, you can do circles massaging your lower back like you did with the “knee-hugging circles.” Or, you can gentle stretch out one leg at a time and play with this stretch however else might feel good for you!

3. Seated cat-cow

Sit with your legs crossed, on a birth ball, or on hands and knees for these movements.

If you have a birth ball or are considering getting one, firstly, I recommend getting one if you’re pregnant, and be sure to check out: How to Use a Birthing Ball for Labor.

Once you’re seated, ensure your heart is over your pelvis and release any tension your shoulders by dropping them down.

Then, place your hands on your knees. Take a deep breath in as you tilt your head up and open your chest. Next, breathe out as you round your back and tuck your chin to your chest.

Repeat this stretch however much you’d like!

4. Runner’s lunge

One way to get into this position is by standing tall with your legs shoulder-width apart. Then, bend your knees as you take your hands to the ground and step one foot back.

You can either bring that knee down or keep it up in this stretch, ensuring it feels comfortable and not too much for your body. Consider using a yoga block or other item for extra support in this stretch.

Further, with this stretch you can tick-tock back into a half-split and then forward again into the lunge as much as you like!

5. half splits

As mentioned above, half splits is another good stretch for your lower back!

You can follow the steps above to assume this stretch or you can start on your knees, extend one leg out, then lean back into your bent knee, relaxing your chest down to your knee.

Ensure you don’t force yourself down to your knee. Instead, simply relax the weight on your upper body gently down to the extended leg.

6. Supine spinal twist

This is one of my favorite and most relaxing stretches for hip and lower back pain.

First, lie down on your back with your arms out making a “T” shape. Next, bring your legs up, then drop them to one side in a 90° angle. Following, turn your head to the opposite side that your legs are on.

Hold this stretch for however long feels good, then switch sides.

7. extended child’s pose

First, get into a tabletop position. Next, open your hips wide. If you have a yoga mat, bring your knees to the outer edges of the mat.

Then, let your hips drop back to your feet, allow your chest to lower to the ground and reach your arms straight past your head.

Consider incorporating any movements that feel good, or hold this posture as long as it feels good!

Lower Back Pain Relief Exercises

Each of the yoga stretches above are certainly a workout when you put them together. Still, here are some ways to make these stretches into exercises with some new ideas, too!

By strengthening your lower back, upper back, and abdomen, you’re providing anchoring spinal and pelvic support from the front and back of your body.

Therefore, these lower back pain relief exercises will help get rid of and prevent lower back pain.

1. supine spinal twist exercise

Follow the steps above in the “supine spinal twist” stretch. But, instead of fully relaxing into the stretch on each side, keep your legs moving, slow and controlled, side-to-side.

This exercise is working out both your lower back and your abdomen which will help provide strong support for your spine and pelvis.

2. Pelvic tilts

You can either do pelvic tilts to strengthen your back the same way described under “seated cat-cow” above, or, by lying on your back with your knees bent and feet on the ground, up to your buttocks.

Once you’re in this position on the ground, round your tailbone up to the sky, and then release.

Repeat this exercise as long as you’d like to help strengthen your lower back.

3. plank

lower back pain stretches during pregnancy

For this plank exercise, either bring your elbows to the ground or keep your arms straight and your hands pushing from the ground.

Once you’re in this position, engage your core and gently round your upper back to prevent strain or damage to your back or abdomen. Further, by engaging these muscles, this is how you will strengthen them in this exercise!

4. Bridges

First, lie down supine on a comfortable surface. Next, bend your knees and plant your feet on the ground up to your buttocks.

Then, engage your core while bringing your hips all the way up with your arms resting at your sides. Repeat this exercise as much as you’d like!

What is Lower Back Pain into Buttocks?

A possible cause of lower back pain into the buttocks is something called sciatica.

Sciatica most often occurs in the third trimester and often feels like a sharp shooting pain causing tingling or numbness all the way down the back of the spine, to your buttocks, and down the back of your legs.

For more on sciatica during pregnancy check out: Sciatica Nerve Pain and Stretches During Pregnancy.

Questions or Comments on “How to Use 5 Lower Back Pain Stretches During Pregnancy”?

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below👇🏻

Talk soon, mama!

– Katelyn Lauren

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References:

[1] Engen, D. J., McAllister, S. J., Whipple, M. O., Cha, S. S., Dion, L. J., Vincent, A., Bauer, B. A., & Wahner-Roedler, D. L. (2015). Effects of transdermal magnesium chloride on quality of life for patients with fibromyalgia: a feasibility study. Journal of integrative medicine, 13(5), 306–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2095-4964(15)60195-9

[2] Lillehei, A. S., Halcón, L. L., Savik, K., & Reis, R. (2015). Effect of Inhaled Lavender and Sleep Hygiene on Self-Reported Sleep Issues: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), 21(7), 430–438. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2014.0327