That grinding ache at the front of your pelvis has a name
Rolling over in bed hurts. Stairs hurt. Getting out of the car hurts. This is pelvic girdle pain, it is common, and it is not something you simply have to live with.
Quick answer
Pelvic girdle pain is pain in the joints of the pelvis, usually felt at the pubic bone at the front or over the dimples of the lower back at the back, and it typically flares with single-leg movements such as stairs, rolling in bed and getting in and out of a car. It affects roughly one in five women during pregnancy and often carries on for a while after birth. For most mums it settles considerably over the first few months as strength and joint control return, and pelvic health physiotherapy is the treatment with the strongest support. It is not caused by weak willpower, and it is not something you should push through with heavy exercise.
of pregnant women experience pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain, per the prevalence review by Wu et al., European Spine Journal, 2004.
of women still had abdominal separation at 6 weeks postpartum (Sperstad et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2016), so pelvic pain and a weak core very often turn up together.
is the usual timing of the NHS postnatal check, and a natural moment to raise pelvic pain rather than waiting for it to pass.
What pelvic girdle pain actually is
Your pelvis is not one solid bone. It is three bones joined at three low-movement joints: the pubic symphysis at the front, and the two sacroiliac joints at the back, either side of the base of your spine. Pelvic girdle pain, sometimes still called symphysis pubis dysfunction or SPD, is pain arising from one or more of those joints and the ligaments and muscles that control them.
The classic description mums give is a deep, grinding or clicking ache low at the front, sometimes with pain radiating into the inner thighs, plus a matching ache over one or both sides of the lower back. It is worse with anything that loads one leg at a time, because that is exactly when the two halves of the pelvis have to resist shearing against each other.
How it differs from ordinary postnatal back and hip ache
Plenty of new mums have general lower back or hip soreness from feeding postures, carrying and broken sleep. That is a different problem with a different fix, and we cover it separately in our piece on postpartum back and hip pain. The pattern below is what tends to point at the pelvic joints specifically.
| Clue | General postnatal ache | Pelvic girdle pain |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Broad, across the lower back or outer hip | Pinpoint at the pubic bone, or over the lower back dimples |
| What triggers it | Long static postures, feeding, carrying | Single-leg loading: stairs, rolling in bed, getting out of the car |
| Sound or sensation | Stiffness, tightness | Often a grinding, clicking or catching feeling |
| Night pattern | Eases when you lie still | Rolling over in bed can be the worst moment of the day |
| Walking | Usually tolerable | Can produce a waddling gait or a limp after a certain distance |
Why it can carry on after the baby arrives
The popular explanation is hormones, and it is only partly right. Relaxin and the other hormones of pregnancy do increase ligament laxity, but the research linking hormone levels to how much pain any individual woman has is not clean, and laxity alone does not explain why some mums hurt and others do not. We unpack that in how long relaxin stays in your body.
A more useful way to think about it is a load-versus-capacity problem. Pregnancy changed the shape of the container, the deep muscles that stabilise the pelvis got long and quiet, and then birth was followed by a job that involves lifting a growing weight twenty times a day, often while twisted, often on no sleep. The joints are being asked for more control than the surrounding system can currently produce. Pressure management matters here too, which is why intra-abdominal pressure and the pelvic floor are part of the same conversation rather than a separate topic.
How long it usually lasts
For most women, pelvic girdle pain improves substantially in the weeks and months after birth as hormonal changes reverse, the load of carrying a pregnancy disappears, and strength gradually returns. A smaller group have symptoms that persist well past the first year, and those mums are precisely the ones who benefit most from assessment rather than more waiting. There is no fixed calendar, and recovery is rarely a straight line: a good week followed by a flare after a long walk is normal and does not mean you have undone anything.
The single most useful signal is direction of travel. If your tolerance for walking, stairs and lifting is slowly increasing month over month, you are on the right path. If it has been flat or worsening for six weeks or more, that is a reason to get seen, not a reason to try harder.
What actually helps
- Pelvic health physiotherapy. This is the intervention with the strongest support, and it is the one that gets you an actual diagnosis rather than a guess. Our guide on what happens at a pelvic floor physio appointment covers what to expect if the idea makes you nervous.
- Symmetry. Keep your knees together when you roll in bed or get out of the car, take stairs one at a time if you need to, and stop standing with all your weight on one hip while you hold the baby.
- Load management, not rest. Complete rest tends to make things stiffer and weaker. Find the amount of walking you can do without a next-day flare, and build from there.
- Better lifting mechanics. How you pick up a car seat matters more than any single exercise. The technique points in lifting and carrying your baby safely apply here too.
- A pelvic support belt, used sensibly. Some mums get real short-term relief from external support for walking or work shifts. It is a crutch that buys comfort while you build strength, not a treatment on its own.
- Gentle, symmetrical strengthening. Breathing-led deep core work, glute strengthening and controlled hip work, progressed slowly. Symmetrical movements are usually better tolerated early than single-leg ones.
What to look for in a postpartum program if you have pelvic girdle pain
Not every well-reviewed program suits a painful pelvis. The things to check are whether it starts with breathing and deep core work rather than jumping into loaded movement, whether it includes glute strengthening, and whether it tells you clearly what to do when something hurts instead of only cheering you on. Programs vary enormously in how they handle this, which is one of the things we compared in our Every Mother versus The Tummy Team breakdown: an approach built on posture and daily-life mechanics tends to translate better to pelvic pain than a workout library does.
Whatever you choose, clear it with your physiotherapist first if you have pain at rest, pain that wakes you, or pain that is getting worse.
Rebuild the support system, gently
The Complete Postpartum Body Reset bundle covers deep core, glutes and pelvic floor in short sessions you can do at the baby's nap time, paid once with no subscription. Use code GLOW20 for 20% off. See what is included.
The thing most mums are not told
Pelvic girdle pain is common, but common is not the same as normal or untreatable. Being told to wait it out is not a treatment plan. If it is limiting how far you can walk, how you sleep, or how you lift your own baby, that is enough reason to ask for a referral to a women's health physiotherapist. Results vary from mum to mum, and getting assessed early tends to shorten the road.
When to seek help sooner rather than later
- Pain severe enough that walking, standing or turning in bed is genuinely limited
- Pain that is getting worse rather than slowly better
- Any new numbness, pins and needles, or weakness in a leg
- Fever, or pain with feeling generally unwell, which needs same-day medical review
- New or worsening leaking, or a sense of heaviness or dragging in the vagina
Frequently asked questions
Is pelvic girdle pain the same as SPD?
Broadly yes. Symphysis pubis dysfunction, or SPD, is an older term that refers specifically to the joint at the front of the pelvis. Pelvic girdle pain is the current umbrella term, because the sacroiliac joints at the back are just as often involved.
Will pelvic girdle pain go away on its own after birth?
For many mums it improves considerably over the first months after birth as pregnancy load and hormonal changes reverse. A minority have persistent symptoms. If yours is not steadily improving after about six weeks, ask for a pelvic health physiotherapy assessment rather than continuing to wait.
Can I exercise with pelvic girdle pain?
Usually yes, with the right selection. Symmetrical, low-load movement such as breathing-led core work, bridges and controlled hip work is often well tolerated, while deep lunges, wide-legged movements and long single-leg loading commonly are not. Pain during or the day after a session means the dose was too high, not that you are fragile.
Does having pelvic girdle pain mean I also have diastasis recti?
Not necessarily, but the two frequently overlap because both relate to how well your deep core and pelvic system manage load. It is worth checking for abdominal separation if you have pelvic pain, since addressing both together usually works better than treating either alone.
Does a pelvic support belt help?
Some mums find one genuinely useful for walking, standing shifts or busy days, and it can make movement comfortable enough to start rebuilding strength. It is a short-term aid rather than a fix, and it should not replace assessment and strengthening.
Sources: Wu WH et al., European Spine Journal, 2004 (pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain terminology and prevalence); Sperstad JB et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2016; NHS guidance on pelvic pain in pregnancy and the postnatal check; Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) guidance on activity during and after pregnancy.
This article is general education, not medical advice, and it is not a diagnosis. Mumma Glow is not affiliated with any program, clinic or organisation named here. Results vary from mum to mum. Please see your GP, midwife or a women's health physiotherapist about persistent or severe pelvic pain, especially if it is worsening or accompanied by numbness, weakness, fever or new leaking.