During pregnancy a hormone named relaxin gets released in your body, which makes your ligaments stretchy so your baby can ease his or her way into the world. Sometimes relaxin makes the ligaments around your pelvic bone loose way before the baby is ready to come out, which causes instability and sometimes pain in the pelvic joint. This condition is called Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction, or SPD.

What are the signs and symptoms of SPD?

The most common symptom is difficulty when walking. You may experience a wrenching pain (as though your pelvis is tearing apart) or a stabbing sharp pain. Typically, the pain is focused on the pubic area, but in some women, it radiates to the upper thighs and perineum.

The pain may aggravate with any weight bearing activity, particularly one that involves lifting one leg, such as when you're climbing upstairs, getting dressed, getting in and out of a car, even turning over in bed.

How do I manage SPD?

-    Wear a Preggie belt. It gives extra support and limits abnormal movement that can cause pain in your pelvic bones. (A blog post all about a Preggy belt is coming soon).

-    Continue to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles and transversus abdominis muscle (core muscles).

-    Avoid any activity that elicits the pain. Sit down to get dressed and avoid heavy lifting and pushing. Take care when you get in and out of the car and sleep with a pillow between your knees.

-    Make an appointment with us to help with pain relief and to give you the right exercises. You might think you are doing your kegel exercises or core exercises and it is not helping. But if you do not execute the exercises correctly you might actually be aggravating your pain.

And remember, being pregnant is a miracle, even though your body is going through some serious changes, keep on reminding yourself to enjoy every bit of it.