Ask the Pros
Birth Plans
Birth Stories
Bookstore
Boy or Girl
Cesareans
Chat Room
Complications
Doulas
Educators
Episiotomy
FAQs
Feeding Baby
Fertility
Finding a Class
Health
Interactive
Labor
Message Board
Monitoring
Newborns
Postcards
Postpartum
Pregnancy
Reviews/Awards
Search
VBAC
Week by Week

Ask A Childbirth Educator
Questions and Answer

Q. I'm 23 weeks and for the last two weeks my my pelvic bone hurts when I change position in bed or am standing or walking. It's not an intense pain it just feels bruised in that area and I haven't done anything different to have caused it. This is my third pregnancy and I never had this before.

A. Pubic pain is very common in pregnancy. While pregnant your body releases hormones that soften your tissues and pelvic joints. The pubic bone is really two bones connected by cartilage in the center----the cartilage softens during pregnancy and as a result can become very sore when you are moving, walking etc. Some women feel it more than others, some women only have it in later pregnancies, some women get it with every pregnancy. Some things that might help are: wearing a girdle or trochanter belt, applying warmth to the sore area, a warm bath, and support pantyhose.

Karen Klimsak-Ungar, CCE has been a certified childbirth educator for Birth Works® since 1996. She is currently Managing Editor for the Birth Works newsletter, sits on the Birth Works Board of Directors, and serves on their National Trainee Review Committee. A happily married mother of two, she also continues to teach Birth Works classes as well as private classes.

Karen will answer your questions on fertility, pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding and babies. Her advice does not take the place of your practitioner. Personal answers will not always be possible.