Pregnancy brings a lot of changes in a woman’s body. No matter how you try to avoid these changes, they are inevitable. When you reach your third semester, walking like a penguin is normal for you. This pregnancy symptom may be awkward, but pregnancy waddle really happens to most pregnant women and isn’t just a myth.
Being pregnant is such a precious and amazing stage of a woman’s life. However, since every pregnancy is different, some women may experience conditions that could make their pregnancy journey more difficult than other women. One of those conditions is waddling, though normal, shouldn’t be ignored. For all the mother-to-be’s out there, read on below and know more about pregnancy waddling and find out how it can be prevented.
Causes of pregnancy waddle
Waddling is usually seen in expecting women in their third semester. What do you think are the reasons behind this waddling in pregnant mothers? Well, blame it all on hormones and baby weight and here’s why!
1. Hormones
In your second trimester of pregnancy, your body begins to produce a hormone called relaxin. It is responsible for relaxing ligaments and joints found in your pelvis so it widens. Labor and delivery become easier and faster with relaxin, yet it can also have an impact when walking.
2. Shift in Gravity
When you are pregnant, your belly grows and it throws off your gravity center. This makes hard for you to have balance when walking. As your stomach gets bigger, your spine and pelvis also begin to curve in to give support to your growing belly. As a result, you slightly lean back every time you walk or stand.
What are the negative effects of waddling during pregnancy?
Waddling during pregnancy puts a lot of strain and stress on a woman’s body, especially on her muscles. This allows imbalance and will make the hip tighter and trigger backache and pain in the butt. With all the preggo symptoms, it is important to be prepared and prevent waddling if possible to lessen the discomfort you feel during pregnancy.
Ways on how to prevent pregnancy waddle
Waddling may be the way of life of a pregnant mother in her third trimester of pregnancy. It is an effect of muscles which have become strained and tensed. The growing fetus inside the womb takes a toll on the mother’s body, hence causing pain and discomfort.
So, how do you ease the distress of waddling? Here are the things that you can do to soothe the stress and fatigue from the muscles as well as enhance your posture throughout the pregnancy:
1. Massage.
Yes, not all kinds of massages are good for pregnant mothers. But, to prevent waddling, you can spend some time massaging your calves, glutes, and hamstrings, which are prone to tightening to carry the weight of your growing tummy.
2. Exercise your butt.
Get your butt moving properly! Try to do simple squats and lunges to work your butt out. This is proven effective and can be done easily!
3. The right posture helps.
Straighten your knees, adjust your shoulder blades backward, while your chest is pointing forward to maintain the right posture.
4. Distribute the body weight on your legs.
It is understandable that as the baby grows, it also becomes heavier for the mother to carry so she tends to lean back more to support her belly. However, this also makes her shift the whole weight on one leg which can be painful. Distribute the body weight on both legs to avoid waddling.
5. Make sure your blood circulation is maintained.
Do not stand or sit in the same position for a long period of time. Make use of pregnancy pillows which can be a great help to ensure a good sitting position.
6. Sleep comfortably.
The ideal sleeping position for pregnant women is to sleep not on the back as this can cause backaches as well as hinder blood circulation. Expecting moms are advised to sleep on the side.
Final thoughts
Hopefully, these tips will help you keep your muscles protected from tension and strain. Following these tips will also ensure good posture in the course of pregnancy. Also try doing yoga, swimming and lots of walking.
Pregnant women can really not run away from pregnancy waddle. Nevertheless, doctors suggest to always let them know about your discomfort so they can give you proper advice to soothe the symptoms for your healthy, happy pregnancy possible.
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