Abstract

Introduction: Pregnant women at the second trimester have low back and pelvic pain (LBPP), although the second trimester in pregnancy is a stable stage. Studies on LBPP in pregnancy have mainly focused on late pregnancy and there have been few studies on LBPP at the second trimester. We carried out a prospective study to clarify the longitudinal changes in LBPP from the second trimester to one month postpartum and to determine the correlations of LBPP in those stages with factors associated with LBPP. Methods: We recruited 74 pregnant women who responded to questionnaires in all four stages (second and third trimesters and one week and one month postpartum). We designed a self-administered questionnaire including a visual analog scale (VAS) of LBPP and pregnancy mobility index (PMI). Results: The proportions of women who complained of LBPP were 71.6% at the second trimester, 79.7% at the third trimester, 70.3% at one week postpartum and 62.2% at one month postpartum. VAS score at the second trimester showed a significant positive correlation with VAS score at the third trimester. VAS score at the second trimester showed a significant positive correlation with VAS score at the third trimester (r=0.484, p<0.001). VAS scores showed significant positive correlations with PMI in all four stages. The proportions of women who had menstrual pain before pregnancy in women who had LBPP in all 4 stages and in any of the 4 stages were significantly higher than the proportion of women without LBPP in any of the stages. Conclusion: Forty percent of the women with LBPP at the second trimester had LBPP at one month postpartum, though the degree of LBPP was mild. Management of LBPP in pregnant women at the second trimester may be important. In health guidance for women in the second trimester, it is important for midwives to assess the pain in women with LBPP and to encourage self-care.

Keywords: Low back pain; Pelvic pain; Pregnancy; Prospective study