When do your hips widen during pregnancy is a top sought query.
During pregnancy, the body goes through a lot of changes. Your stomach expands, your hips may expand, and your hips expand.
Hormonal changes that begin shortly after fertilization create these modifications.
While expecting body changes during pregnancy, nothing appears more obvious than ‘hip spreading.’
There’s a good chance you’ve heard the term “childbearing hips” before. Perhaps these adjectives refer to pregnant women’s widened hips.
However, given every woman is constructed differently to bear children, claiming everyone has childbearing hips could appear strange — or even perplexing.
The pelvic bones’ job is to transfer the load created by the body’s weight.
Alignment changes that occur during pregnancy can disrupt the proper function of the pelvic bones.
Furthermore, pelvic bone misalignment can result in pain, urine incontinence, and other issues.
Understanding the nature and timing of pelvic alignment changes during pregnancy might help avoid and cure these problems.
Read on to know more about when your hips widen during pregnancy.
Quick Contents show
When Do Your Hips Widen During Pregnancy?
Widening of the hips is a painful but necessary alteration that happens in the last weeks of pregnancy.
The pelvic joints and ligaments loosen and expand as the mother relaxes, allowing the baby to enter the birth canal.
The hips will revert to a certain extent after birth. On the other hand, many new mothers will have their broader hips eternally.
According to Parents Magazine, your hips will broaden in the third trimester.
Weight gain during pregnancy can cause fat to gather on the exterior of the hips, making them appear even broader.
As the hips broaden and the ribcage expands, this evolution permits the uterus to expand rapidly after the first trimester.
This is a crucial idea to learn since it explains why a woman appears “fat” when it’s a smoke and mirrors effect caused by her structure broadening, which changes her core.
At one month after deliveries, the anterior breadth of the pelvis has not healed, and it is still broader than it was at 12 weeks of pregnancy.
The anterior pelvic tilt increases during pregnancy, notably between 12 and 36 weeks, and diminishes one month following delivery.
1. Hip Modifications During Pregnancy
During pregnancy, up to 80% of women have pelvic pain. Starting in the first trimester, when the hormone relaxin is released, structural and biochemical changes occur, causing pain.
The hormone breaks down collagen and stops it from being generated and “relaxing” the tendons, muscles, and ligaments in the pelvic region.
The sacroiliac joint (SIJ) connects your pelvis to your spine. The spine and pelvis should normally interlock to keep the joint stable.
On the other hand, relaxation causes the joints in both the front and back of the pelvis to loosen and broaden, leading the pelvic muscles to perform less efficiently than previously.
When you add in the weight of a growing baby, the pressure on your pelvis and hips can be considerable.
2. Hip Pain Reduction Suggestions
Even though some pain is unavoidable, there are things you may take to lessen the discomfort of your body’s changes.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Lifting heavy objects or standing on one leg are two examples of intense actions or activities that can place too much pressure on your pelvis.
- Place an equal weight on both feet when standing from a seated posture.
- Avoid lying flat on your back to avoid putting too much strain on your blood vessels.
- Sleep with a pillow beneath your pelvis and between your legs on your side.
- Sit up straight and prevent slouching when you’re sitting.
- Wear a pregnancy belt if you’re having trouble sleeping.
- Widening of the hips isn’t often obvious right away. Some women may not notice how much their hips have grown until they try to squeeze them into their pre-pregnancy clothes. The extent to which the hips broaden varies from woman to woman.
3. What Exactly Do People Mean When They Say, “Childbearing Hips”?
To be clear, calling a woman’s hips birthing does not imply that she has a special ability to bear children that other women do not.
Childbearing hips refer to a woman’s pelvic anatomy in its most basic form. This phrase describes ladies with broad or wide hips.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for pelvic forms. Rather, they can differ significantly in shape and size from one woman to the next.
And in general, some women have a broader pelvis and hips, making it simpler for them to carry and deliver a baby.
Researchers categorized the pelvis into four morphologies in the 1930s: gynecoid, anthropoid, android, and platypelloid.
However, a newer study suggests that pelvis forms aren’t as simply divided into these four groups as originally assumed and that there is more variety than previously supposed.
To further understand why pelvic shapes, affect labor, here are the characteristics of each form as initially reported.
4. Platypelloid Pelvis
Narrowness is another feature of a platypelloid pelvis. Because it takes your baby longer to reach the pelvis, this pelvic shape can also result in a little longer delivery.
The only difference between this and an android pelvis is that the latter has a narrow pubic arch. The sub-pubic arch of a platypelloid pelvis is broader.
As a result, once the baby reaches the pelvis, labor gets easier if you have a platypelloid pelvis.
A woman’s pelvis area was X-rayed decades ago to determine whether she could have a reasonably straightforward vaginal birth.
While pelvic X-rays are not a requirement for prenatal care, your OB-GYN may examine your pelvis to assess its structure.
Understand, however, that having a specific pelvic shape isn’t always a sign of an easier birth or whether you’ll give birth vaginally or via cesarean.
During childbirth, many factors come into play, including the size of the baby’s head, the mother’s health, and the baby’s placement during labor.
The crucial thing to remember is that a woman’s body is intended to give birth.
Your pelvic floor will naturally relax and stretch as you get closer to your due date, and labor begins in preparation for delivery.
This occurs when your body releases the hormone relaxin. Your pelvic bones will separate slightly, allowing a baby to glide via your pelvic joints.
The ligaments around your pelvis will relax in preparation for birthing, but the form of your pelvis will not alter.
Summary
If you don’t have what would be termed childbearing hips, don’t worry.
Broader and wider hips aren’t always a sign that you’ll have an easier time giving birth.
Regardless of the size or shape of your pelvis, childbirth is a challenging event.
There’s no way to know how simple (or difficult) your birth will be until you’re at the stage where you’re ready to give birth.
Take solace in the knowledge that you’ll soon meet your little bundle of joy!
See more on pregnancy:I Don’t Feel Pregnant at 6 Weeks
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Your Hips Begin to Broaden When You’re Pregnant?
At one month after deliveries, the anterior breadth of the pelvis has not healed, and it is still broader than it was at 12 weeks of pregnancy.
As the hips broaden and the ribcage expands, this evolution permits the uterus to expand rapidly after the first trimester.
It’s possible that your physique has become wider as a result of your pregnancy.
Your ribs may have enlarged, and your hips may have widened to allow the baby to exit the birth canal more easily.
Do Your Hips Enlarge with Each Pregnancy?
Yes, even though you weigh the same after having a kid, your hips and feet may broaden permanently after pregnancy and birth, so you may not be able to wear the same clothing size or shoe size.
People’s hips widen as they age, not simply due to weight gain but also because their pelvic bones widen.
Most people don’t get any taller after the age of 20. Still, a new study published in the Journal of Orthopedic Research revealed evidence that the pelvis (hip bones) continues to broaden in both men and women until around the age of 80, long after skeletal growth is supposed to halt.
What Can I Do to Keep My Hips from Spreading While Pregnant?
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that pregnant women exercise throughout pregnancy.
Walking, swimming, yoga, and other light-to-moderate activities are a few exercise examples.
When you move your thigh outward, which is called abduction, and move your leg upward, the tensor fasciae latae is exercised.
Hip flexion is the term for this upward action.
Because the squat requires hip extension and flexion, it exercises the glutes and tensor fasciae latae, which causes them to grow in size.
Related Posts:
- What To Wear After Delivery 2?
- How to Clean Out Your Unborn Babys’ System?
- How To Dress During Pregnancy Without Maternity Clothes?
Iesha Mulla
Iesha is a loving mother of 2 beautiful children. She’s an active parent who enjoys indoor and outdoor adventures with her family. Her mission is to share practical and realistic parenting advice to help the parenting community becoming stronger.