Purpose: The impact of pregnancy on the anterior-posterior sacral orientation and its relation to lumbopelvic pain and weight gain has not been fully recognized. This longitudinal study aimed to compare the sacral inclination angle in women between their early and advanced pregnancy and at 6 months postpartum. The authors also searched for a correlation between the sacral inclination and lumbopelvic pain, BMI and change in body mass.
Methods: Thirteen healthy women participated in the study. Data were collected at 8-16 and 35-38 weeks of gestation, and at 27-31.5 postpartum weeks. At each session, the women's sacral inclination angles were measured using the Saunders digital inclinometer. Data were also collected on lumbopelvic pain, BMI and body mass gain/loss.
Results: There was no effect of the evaluation period on the sacral inclination (p > 0.05); however, various individual values of the sacral inclination in pregnancy and postpartum were noted. In advanced pregnancy, 61.5% of the women had recurrent pain in the lumbopelvic region. The sacral inclination did not correlate with the lumbopelvic pain, BMI and body mass change (p > 0.05) in the pregnancy and postpartum periods.
Conclusions: Advanced pregnancy did not influence sacral inclination. However, individuals varied in their responses. Therefore, we suggest that an individually-based physical therapy approach concerning proper posture during and after pregnancy should be emphasized. The sacral inclination had no impact on the occurrence of recurrent lumbopelvic pain. BMI and changes in body mass did not influence the sacral inclination in advanced pregnancy and at 6 months postpartum.