Up to 70% of postpartum people deal with back pain that lingers months — or years — after birth. It's not because you're 'weak' or 'doing too much.' It's almost always a combination of biomechanical changes that nobody screened for or rehabbed.
Driver #1: Rib & pelvis stacking
Pregnancy flares your ribs forward and tips your pelvis. If your ribs sit ahead of your pelvis, your low back has to hyperextend just to keep you upright — and it screams about it.
- Quick check: stand sideways in a mirror. Is the front of your ribs ahead of the front of your hips? That's the pattern.
- Drill: exhale fully, soften your front ribs down, feel the low back lengthen.
Driver #2: A deep core that's still offline
The transverse abdominis, pelvic floor, and diaphragm work as a pressure system. After pregnancy that system is sluggish, and your low back muscles pick up the slack 24/7.
- Start with 360° breathing and connection breath.
- Layer in dead bugs, bird dogs, and side planks before going back to crunches or heavy lifts.
Driver #3: Glutes that forgot they exist
Hours of feeding, rocking, and holding baby on one hip turn your glutes into spectators. Your low back and hip flexors take over hip extension — and stay angry.
- Glute bridges, hip thrusts, and step-ups 2–3x/week.
- Single-leg work: split squats, single-leg deadlifts.
Driver #4: How you carry the baby
- Switch hips often. The 'mom hip' lean overloads one quadratus lumborum (a back muscle that loves to spasm).
- Use both arms when lifting the car seat — and bring it close to your body before standing.
- Lift from a hip hinge, not a back round.
Driver #5: Pelvic floor in the mix
Low back and SI joint pain often share a root cause with pelvic floor dysfunction. If you have leaking, heaviness, or pain with sex alongside your back pain, the back will not fully resolve until the pelvic floor is addressed.
When to get evaluated
- Pain that's been there more than 6 weeks.
- Pain that wakes you at night or limits picking up your kid.
- Numbness, tingling, or weakness in a leg.
- Any pelvic floor symptom alongside the back pain.
Pelvic floor & postpartum OT in Basking Ridge, NJ
Modern Movement is a women's health and orthopedic occupational therapy practice based in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, serving moms across Somerset County — including Bernardsville, Bedminster, Far Hills, Warren, Bridgewater, Martinsville, Gladstone, and the surrounding Somerset Hills. We work with pregnant and postpartum women on pelvic floor health, diastasis recti, core recovery, low back & hip pain, and return-to-running — in person, one-on-one, for a full hour.
Want a plan built around you?
Book a 1:1 session with Amanda in Basking Ridge for a personalized assessment.