Postnatal hypermobility

[OhWhatAPalaver]

After having Dd (now 20mo) I had extremely bad hypermobility, it started around 6 weeks after birth and lasted until I stopped bf-ing at 13 months. It was so bad both my wrists were dislocating several times a day and although I was given splints etc nothing helped. I was in agony for months and I really don't want to go through it again.

However me and dp have been talking about when we might want dd to have a sibling. I really want her to have a little brother or sister but I am terrified of having to go through all the pain of hypermobility again. One answer I suppose would be not to breastfeed but I really don't fancy formula feeding :/

Does anyone know if there is a way to prevent hypermobility during breastfeeding or if there is anything at all I can try to make it less severe? Thanks folks.

I'm very hypermobile and this gets worse in pregnancy as everything relaxes. I learned my lesson with DS (my first) and for subsequent pregnancies I did my best to strengthen my problem joints before getting pregnant and then maintained it during - my knees are my biggest problem, they dislocate a lot.

Ask your GP for a referral to a physiotherapist with experience of hypermobility (you may have to go via a rheumatologist as I did). The Physio will be able to show you exercises to strengthen the muscles around your joints, there's not a lot can be done for hypermobility but strengthening these muscles plays a big part in holding the joints together.

Thanks, I was thinking I will probably have to grin and bear it! It has caused permanent damage to my wrists so I don't want to make them any worse. Maybe I will just have to move on to formula earlier with the second one!