Nighttime Discomfort? Listen to your body!

Womb Wrap Co.
Aug 11, 2018
4 min read

Updated: Jan 20, 2023

Waking up in the middle of the night with horrible pains and cramps in your back, stomach and round ligaments? Ouch! Not cool, right? Well, you don't have to just lie there hopeless and suffering anymore! When you're in pain your body is trying to tell you something. Listening to your body during pregnancy and especially during nighttime discomfort is the first step towards relief for you and your baby. Yup! Believe it or not baby is probably uncomfortable too. When baby is in the wrong position inside you, you start to feel it. Which is why it is so important to take action.

Now for the fun part. This will probably scare your hubby half to death by the way! Ha! Okay, take a minute, climb out of bed onto all fours and run through some relaxation/pain relief exercises! I'm going to pause here to note that all pain relief exercises for pregnancy are exactly the same exercises performed for baby positioning. So if you wake in the middle of the night in pain, chances are baby is not where they are supposed to be or trying to get there. High side is that once you do a bit of body manipulation your baby will most likely work with you and move back into proper positioning and your pain will be gone. Hooray for a solid nights sleep!! And your baby will be comfortable too! Sorry men, you on the other hand will probably be starring at the ceiling wondering what she'll do next.

Oh and one more thing. Night time pain is preventable by keeping your body aligned and baby in the right position during the day. How do you do that? Daily exercise and belly support. So remember to wear your Womb Wrap maternity belt daily to support your belly, back and growing baby.

My 5 Favorite Pain Relief / Baby Positioning Exercises

Remember these exercises are to relax your muscles and align the body so baby can move freely into their proper position and relieve your discomfort. So make sure to try and relax, breathe deeply and really enjoy and breathe through each movement. You should feel better with in no time(about 3 - 6 minutes).

Cat/Cow Pose: Great for relieving abdominal and lower back tension. Start on your hands and knees making sure your hands are directly under your shoulders and your knees are directly under your hips. As you inhale look up between your eyebrows raising your head gently. As you exhale round your back bringing the chin towards your chest. Press your hands into the floor and push the center of your back up to the ceiling exaggerating the roundness of your back.

Pigeon Pose: Great for all around relief in the hips, pelvis, groin, sciatica and lower back! Start on your hands and knees. Gently slide the right knee forward between the hands and rest on your right hip. Straighten your left leg behind you. Bring your right foot towards your left hip then square both hips to the ground so that the top of your back foot and thigh are centered on the ground (all 5 toenails should be on the floor.) If you are uncomfortable, place a pillow under your right hip. Adjust your right foot so that it is in front of your belly for a deeper stretch or behind your belly for a less intense stretch. If you are comfortable there, you can rest on your elbows. Stay here 5 to 10 breaths then switch sides.

Butterfly Pose: Great for stretching the groin and opening the hips! Sit on the floor with your back straight and legs straightened before you. Now bend your knees and bring your feet towards your pelvic bone. Join the soles of your feet together and bring them as close to your groin as you can. Hold your feet together with your knees pointing to the opposite sides. Slowly and softly press your knees towards the floor as low as you can. If you cannot touch the floor, it is okay; and go as low as you can. Now, press your knees up and then do it again. Do these little pulses for as long as you feel comfortable. Stop the exercise if you start feeling any pain or discomfort.

Birth Balls: Sitting on birthing balls are great for relaxing and aligning your body and opening up the pelvis. Keep your birth ball in your room at night just in case you need it. The ball should be firm and big enough so that your hips are equal or higher than your knees. Replace your desk chairs at work and home with these wonderful orbs for alignment and relief during the day.

Birth Ball Bouncing/Hip Rotating: Sit in a wide squat position on the ball with feet apart. Gently bounce up and down on the ball and/or rotate pelvis in circle movements.

Birth Ball Leaning: When leaning on your ball, simply kneel and hang arms around ball. Small rocking back and forth can be very soothing and relax tension in the body.