Can you prevent SPD?

[Michelle71]

\You'll actually cause more damage by keeping your knees together.

Can you explain this please? All of the SPD management suggests movements with the legs together to prevent separation as opposed to single leg movements.

[~Raven~]

I'm not sure if by saying "keeping the knees together" she means "keeping them even" IYKWIM. Inline with your shoulders is optimal I was told

[Arimeh]

Thanks guys.

I want to get into shape before even thinking of having another bub - and DH said it wouldn't hurt as much if I got everything strong - cos I used to have good tummy muscles and now its all gone to crap after 3 kids in 3 years.. LOL

[Feijoa Mum]

My Midwife told me that if you get it you will to some degree get it in subsequent pregnancies but the severity of it depends on the age gap between your babies.
If you have a bigger gap your body has more of a chance to recover.
I had wicked SPD with son number two as number one was only 11 months when I got pregnant again.
With number three it was tolerable because the gap was well over two years between pregnancies.
With number four I hardly noticed any problems but that gap was 5 years.
This time around I have it again quite bad but my gap is alot closer again, under that magical two years.
SO I believe the longer the gap the better your SPD will be.

[Arimeh]

SO I believe the longer the gap the better your SPD will be.

Actually thats funny you say that - we were on the official UK site last night for it, and they said that time to heal has nothing to do with it - it doesn't matter apparently if you have 5 months or 5 years between pregnancies! We downloaded the PDF of it, and it was actually quite interesting.

[ciara.e]

I'm not sure if by saying "keeping the knees together" she means "keeping them even" IYKWIM. Inline with your shoulders is optimal I was told

Sorry if i didnt communicate very well. Yes Raven, that's what I mean. If you bring your knees together you could (and possibly already) be causing damage to your whole skeletal structure, specifically your pelvic/hip region, and your knees. When you sit down and stand up, and do any other exercise for that matter, try to keep your feet and knees shoulder width apart. It helps to keep your body aligned.

Michelle, you're right - single leg movements are more advanced. Ideally, you want to be able to do them, but not right away! A great way to keep your legs apart if it hurts too much is to buy a soft throwing ball (at big W and Kmart they sell cheap balls that look like they have spikes - for babies and toddlers, and these are great). Place the ball between your knees when doing 'squats' and similar movements/exercises and this will help to stop your knees trying to touch each other (the ball should be small enough so it doesn't push your knees out past the line where your shoulders and hips are at). It will provide support for you. This is a rehab style of exercise and it's very effective.

Ultimately, you should still listen to your GP or specialist, and feel free to run any suggestions by them if you're confused or worried.

I hope that makes a little more sense?

Arimeh - getting into shape before the next bubs is a great idea. Strengthening those areas i talked about before is a great way to help prevent the severity of the condition!

All the boys - yes you are on the right track! time to recover is definately a good thing! Can you imagine doing it again without recovering first! talk about ouch!