Putting Pain Aside: Ways to Overcome Tailbone Pain in Postpartum So You Can Focus on Your Baby Instead
Jan 30, 2022Tailbone & other distracting pain doesn’t need to be a part of your postpartum story
I’ve been working with a new mom whose tailbone has been so painful after her delivery. Did this happen to you, or anyone you know?
She had been having trouble sitting after birth, which, as you can guess, is a big part of feeding baby, and allowing your body to recover.
After the first massage working on this new mom, we were able to soften and relax all of the ligaments on either side of her sacrum, hips, and glutes, which made sitting to breastfeed much more tolerable. It took a couple more sessions to get her out of pain and back into a pleasurable enjoyability of massage, but we got there!
We all kind of expect to require some down time after giving birth, but being in distracting pain does not need to be a part of your story.
Often, the pain you feel mirrors your birthing position. It’s really common to have tailbone pain if you pushed your baby out lying on your back. That’s often because the tailbone was restricted by the surface you were lying on as it tried to flex backwards to let your baby pass through.
Even if you didn’t push in that position, you may still have very sore hips and glutes from all the intense effort it takes to bring a baby through.
I’m addressing issues with vaginal birth here, but we can also work wonders on those of you who delivered by cesarean. Heck, you possibly even had a pushing stage and THEN had a cesarean. You’re a warrior! We’re here for you too.
Giving yourself permission to receive massage during pregnancy tends to be easier than carving out time once baby is here. I get it. Your world truly begins to revolve around your little one, and justifying time for yourself seems frivolous. So I’m going to try to give you some concrete reasons to prioritize your care. Here we go:
> You are the most important thing in the world to your baby. Your ability to respond to their needs is often reflective of your state of health and wellbeing. Being nurtured postpartum has physical, emotional, and psychological benefits that will in turn allow you to respond better to your newborn.
> 1 in 12 postpartum women are developing autoimmune issues after giving birth. The consensus is that this is due to excessive stress and not enough rest and recovery. Massage is a documented warrior at defeating stress, helping you regulate your nervous system, and thus help your baby regulate theirs.
> I wrote about the concept of 40 days for 40 years in another Love Note, and I think it’s worth repeating. The type of care, rest, nutrition, and support a new mother receives in the first 40 days after giving birth, will affect her health for the next 40 years of her life. Please give yourself the time to truly recover. Birth can be a depleting process, but with the right support and the tincture of time, you can come back even stronger than before. If you want to read more about this concept, I recommend reading Kimberly Ann Johnson’s book “The Fourth Trimester.”
On a personal note, I’m now 20 weeks into my pregnancy (roughly the halfway point). My belly is round, and my belly button is shallow. The shadowy, subtle movements I started to feel around week 17 have given way to much more literal “sparkling” or “popcorn” like sensations now as this baby grows. I feel deep joy and gratitude on this journey. No matter how many pregnant people I’ve worked with, and no matter how many births I’ve attended, I’m still completely in awe of this process.
My team has been taking great care of me throughout this pregnancy. I’m getting massages every two weeks right now, and rotating seeing, Cindy, Heather, Callie & Angelica. I’ve been posting the sessions on Instagram @sparrows_nest_massage, along with some growing belly photos if you’d like to follow along.
Wishing you a wonderful Summer Solstice!
With love,
Sparrow
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