Coccyx (tailbone) pain after birth is one of the most under-treated postpartum injuries. Your tailbone is a small triangle of bones at the base of your spine that pelvic floor muscles attach directly into. During delivery it can bruise, shift, or become fully dislocated — and because most 6-week checks don't examine it, women are told to 'just wait it out' for months. Here's what's actually happening and how to fix it.
Why it happens
- Prolonged pushing, especially on your back with legs held up.
- A big baby, forceps, or vacuum-assisted delivery.
- A tailbone that was already stiff or angled inward before pregnancy.
- Pelvic floor muscles that stayed in a tight, guarded pattern after birth and are now pulling the coccyx forward.
Sitting without making it worse
- Skip the round donut cushion. It leaves the tailbone unsupported and often makes pain worse. Use a wedge cushion with a coccyx cutout instead.
- Sit slightly leaning forward, weight into your thighs — not rocked back onto your sacrum.
- In the car, tilt the seat base so your knees drop slightly below your hips.
- Feed the baby side-lying or in a reclined position for the first few weeks.
The 3 moves that start to unlock it
- Child's pose with knees wide — 90 seconds, deep belly breaths into the low back.
- Happy baby, gently rocking side to side — this decompresses the coccyx.
- Diaphragmatic breathing lying on your side, hand on ribs, feeling the pelvic floor drop on inhale.
When to see a pelvic floor therapy
If pain lasts past 4–6 weeks, if you dread sitting, if it hurts to go from sit-to-stand, or if bowel movements are painful — you need an internal pelvic floor assessment. External stretches only get you so far; the muscles pulling on your tailbone attach from the inside. This is exactly what in-home pelvic floor therapy is for.
Red flags — call your provider
- Numbness or tingling down the legs.
- Loss of bowel or bladder control.
- Fever, redness, or discharge near the tailbone.
- Pain that gets worse instead of slowly better week by week.
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.