Let’s be honest, pregnancy is bloody tough on the body.

Despite my prior fitness levels, carrying twins hasn’t been easy at all. By week 18 I was barely showing but was in tears from the physical pain in my back. By week 26 my hips had increased by two inches as they widened in preparation for childbirth. The resulting pain was pretty debilitating and I can recall a point where I could barely walk or get up from a chair. And the problem with pain is that when it’s bad your muscles tense up it ends up creating pain in other areas of your body. My obstetrician had warned me that I may well end up in a wheelchair or in hospital on methadone for a few weeks. Good grief. Well, suffice it to say I cried even harder after learning that. Prior to becoming pregnant I was fit, healthy and took painkillers only for a once-yearly migraine. That was not how I wanted to end up.

Pain prevention is best.

I wasn’t satisfied with the medical profession and their attitude towards chugging back painkillers and proposing bed rest. Not only did I know for certain I would find both those approaches emotionally stressful, I didn’t see how the muscle atrophy from bed rest could possibly be good for me. And hey, Sophie Guidolin is a bit of an idol to me, so while I knew I would never reach her level of fitness (I’m too lazy), I hoped I could at least try to not feel like a sore, depressed blob throughout my pregnancy.  I began a strategy for preventing things from getting worse. I saw an osteopath, a physiotherapist and I was thrilled to recieve a pair of SRC Pregnancy Leggings to try.

SRC pregnancy leggings – recommended by healthcare professionals.

SRC pregnancy leggings are no ordinary leggings, they are recommended by health care professionals to reduce pain and increase pelvic/back support. Even my physiotherapist raved about them. The design is pretty darn clever as the leggings feature anatomical panels to provide consistent gentle medical grade compression, increase mobility and pelvic muscle function. While tight to put on, once on the body the specialised fabric construction technology is surprisingly comfortable, lightweight and breathable. I found them ideal for wearing under jeans or on their own for exercising and they really did give me an ‘ahhhhhh’ sensation immediately thanks to the additional support around my hips, under the front on my belly and through the pelvis.

Now that I have these in my wardrobe I can see that I will be living in them for the next few weeks/months until the babies arrive. I also hope that the compression will help to reduce the incidence of varicose veins (which I am prone to) but time will tell on that front. In the meantime, I shall be donning these and continuing with a physiotherapist approved pilates exercise and strengthening programme. Fingers crossed I can get through the rest of this pregnancy without resorting to wheelchairs and hard-core painkillers. Now all I hope is that SRC will also release a wetsuit type shirt for the back and belly. I’d buy that!

SRC Pregnancy Leggings and Shorts are available from SRCHealth and they even have a cute little range of maternity clothes as well. As I plan on an elective c section I will be looking into SRC Recovery Shorts to help close my diastasis recti gap and heal my incision.