What it is
Your upper back burns and your neck is stiff. Feeding means looking down for hours a day. Carrying a car seat loads one arm. Add a core still weak from pregnancy, joints still loose from the hormone relaxin, and almost no sleep. Most mothers hurt somewhere by week three.
What's typical
Pain is worst at the end of the day and after long feeds. It usually eases as the baby feeds faster, and as your core returns over three to six months. Large studies have not found that epidurals cause long-term back pain.
What's known
Physical therapists who work with new mothers say the same thing: bring the baby up to you with pillows, keep your head level, and change positions often.
What helps
- Pillows under the baby until the breast or bottle meets the mouth without you bending. A footstool for your feet.
- Feed lying on your side for at least one feed a day. Your neck gets a rest.
- A carrier worn high and snug, with the baby's head at kissing height.
When to call someone
- Now (go in): back pain with fever, new leg weakness or numbness, numbness around the groin, or trouble peeing, especially in the first days after an epidural.
- Todaya severe headache with a stiff neck, or redness or pus at the epidural site.
- At your next visitpain past six weeks, or pain that limits lifting or feeding.
Who helps
Tools: Birthworker Directory · Feeding Prep
Related
- Wrist and thumb pain from holding the babyPostpartum: Your Body
- Breastfeeding positionsFeeding Your Baby
- BabywearingBaby Basics
- Headaches after birthPostpartum: Your Body
What mothers here say
No one has posted under this topic yet. The first experience here will help the next mother who searches for it at 2 a.m.
Experiences and questions are their authors' own, not reviewed advice. The topic's steward lists the ones that help most in a credited digest once there is one. Unusual experiences stay, with a note.
Sources
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists — Committee opinion on optimizing postpartum care
- American Society of Anesthesiologists — Patient information on epidurals and back pain
- APTA Academy of Pelvic Health Physical Therapy — Patient information on postpartum musculoskeletal pain
Sources are named, not yet linked. The steward verifies each one and adds the link.
Steward this topic
Birthworkers listed in our directory can claim a topic, verify its sources, and curate what mothers share here. Your name and credential go at the top of the page. Takes about an hour the first time.
Find your directory page