Ligament pains are common in pregnancy from 15 – 40 weeks. It is usually felt as unilateral lower abdominal pains that start suddenly and tend to become worse when moving around with daily activities. They often will be severe enough to stop you in your tracks and cause you to bend over.
Sometimes the pain will be felt right across the lower stomach just above the pelvis. The characteristic feature is that movement makes it worse, and staying still improves it. It is thought to be due to spasm in the “round ligaments” that suspend the top of the uterus to the sides of the pelvis and contain muscle fibres that spasm.
Ligament pains do not cause any other problems to the pregnancy and they tend to be more frequent in second time mums. Resting is most effective, but warm packs or codeine containing analgesia may also assist. The subsequent ache may persist for one to two days afterwards.
