What’s the Best Way to Carry Baby to Protect Your Pelvic Floor?

Being a mom is a physically demanding task! We quickly learn how to do tasks while simultaneously holding our babies. It is easy to fall into less than ideal positions while doing this, which can lead to increased pressure on the pelvic floor. The increased pressure isn't healthy and can feel like heaviness or pressure in the vagina. So what is the best way to carry our babies?

What to Avoid

It is easy to fall into either a side carrying posture or a ‘swayback’ posture. A side carry is common because you can hold a baby on one side and work on a task with the other hand. It is common to hold your baby on your non-dominant side, so your dominant hand is free.

Another posture when carrying a baby is sway back, where the hips are pushed forward and shoulders shifted backward. This posture is common during pregnancy and puts excess strain on the spine and decreases the amount of work the gluteal muscles need to do. Both these positions put more pressure through the pelvic floor and also makes you less stable.

We can improve our core stability and take some load off the low back and pelvic floor by engaging the transverse abdominis (TA). The TA is our deepest core muscle that wraps around the abdomen and low back and mimics a corset when engaged. In standing, you can engage your TA by ‘bracing’ your abdominal muscles. Starting an appropriate core strengthening program postpartum will also help decrease and prevent back and pelvic pain and pressure.

In the first photo, the mom is using a side carry, putting increased pressure on one side of her low back, hip and pelvic floor. In the second photo, mom’s hips are pushed forward and shoulders pushed back, demonstrating a swayback posture. 

Healthy Carrying Posture

What does healthy carrying look like? The easiest way to achieve this is to hold the baby close and centered on the front of the body. First find a neutral pelvis with the ‘bowl’ of the pelvis tipping neither forward nor backward. Then stack ribs over the pelvis. This gives us our most stable base and does not put unequal pressure on the pelvic floor. Then we want to think about relaxing the shoulders and softening the ribs.

Baby Wearing

Baby wearing can be done with a wrap, sling, or carrier. When done correctly, baby wearing can help reduce pressure on the pelvic floor by spreading the load through your shoulders and upper and mid back. 

Wraps or slings without a waistband can be useful, especially earlier in postpartum because they don’t provide extra pressure on the lower abdominals. It is important to follow manufacturers instructions for use.

If you have back pain or pelvic pressure with baby wearing, you can try checking that the baby is positioned and the straps are tight enough, so the baby is not ‘hanging’ off your body. It's also helpful to try different wraps or carriers (ask your mom friends if you can borrow first!) and shorten the amount of time using the carrier. 

Ask for Help!

Another way to reduce the pressure is to take breaks or ask for help! Perhaps your partner can hold the baby while you perform a task or vice versa.

Pelvic floor physical therapy can also be helpful in safely strengthening the pelvic floor to reduce symptoms. If you are experiencing unresolved symptoms of pelvic floor heaviness or pressure that are not resolving with rest or changing positions, call to schedule your evaluation with a pelvic floor physical therapist at Revitalize Physical Therapy today!