AN ANALYSIS OF POSTURE AND BACK PAIN IN THE FIRST AND 3RD TRIMESTERS OF PREGNANCY

While the incidence oi back pain during pregnancy has beer, shown to b e high, few studies have investigated postural changes that occur duri ng pregnancy and their relationship to back pain. The purpose oi this study was to determine if posture and back pain changed from the first to the third trimester of pregnancy and whether there was a relations hip between the two. Twelve healthy women who were having uncomplicate d pregnancies participated in the study. During the first and third tr imesters, each subject had their standing posture and back pain assess ed by a Metrecom Skeletal Analysis System and a 0- to 10-cm line pain scale respectively. Repeated measures analysis of variance and Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated on or between back pain and nine posture variables and revealed significant increases in third tri mester back pain and postures compared with first trimester back pain (p <.05) and postures for lumbar angle (p <.01), posterior head positi on (p <.01) right pelvic sagittal left (p <.01), and left pelvic sagit tal tilt (p <.01). No significant relationships were found between mag nitude of or change in posture and back pain. These results suggest th at in the standing position the lumbar lordosis and sagittal pelvic ti lt increased and head position became more posterior as women progress ed from the first trimester to the last trimester of pregnancy. These postural changes, however, were not related to back pain. This suggest s that many oi the posture-correcting clinical exercise regimens given to pregnant women need to be investigated.