You’ve likely heard the expression that sitting is the new smoking. While sitting is bad for everyone’s health it’s particularly detrimental for moms-to-be. Many moms have spent a lot of time sitting while working from home.
And they’re often working on surfaces that are not ergonomically friendly, like sofas for instance. Avoid positions like couch sitting where you’re compressing your pelvis.
Sitting Tips & Helpful Stretches
While prolonged sitting, in general, isn’t ideal during pregnancy, obviously, you can’t stand all the time. So, instead of being scrunched on a sofa here are some sitting positions and stretches that we recommend:
- Sit on the floor with your knees crossed with some openness in your hips and pelvis.
- Take some stretching breaks. You can do a cat-cow pose or some pelvic tilts, which are some of our favorite stretches. These take just a few seconds and help the body reset if you’ve been sitting for a long time.
- Purchase a balance disk that is semi-inflated with air. You can put it on your desk chair and sit on it. This disk allows you to move your hips around while you’re sitting. That’s essential because it keeps the pelvis in motion. Your pelvis won’t get compressed and there won’t be as much torsion, twisting or tension on the muscles and ligaments that support the uterus.
- Sit on a Birth Ball, which is ideal for sitting on throughout pregnancy.
Chiropractic Can Help Baby Get Into the Optimal Position
The position your body is in during pregnancy has a huge impact on your baby’s well-being, and most importantly, the space available to your baby and the position.
Chiropractors often will help mom when she has a breech baby. Adjustments can help make more space in a mom-to-be’s body and oftentimes when given more space the baby will go into the head-down position.
We also know that sitting for long periods of time throughout your entire pregnancy and the way your body is positioned and the way you move these can very much contribute to available space and baby position.
Often moms will start to think about this in the third trimester once they’re extremely uncomfortable. Once you find out you’re pregnant, however, we encourage you to consider things like your sitting position and setup.
Whether you’re in your first trimester or just weeks away from giving birth, chiropractic care can benefit you and your baby. Call (619) 734-9327 today to book an appointment!