Pregnancy with Hypermobility: Why everything suddenly hurts more
"Every bit of relief I’ve ever seen came from understanding the body, not fighting it. Once you start to see the patterns — how easing one area can shift the strain somewhere else — everything changes. The body works as a chain, not in parts. And that understanding changes how you move, how you recover, and how you give birth." - Jilly Clarke, Hypermobility Antenatal Specialist and founder of CubCare
Pregnancy with hypermobility: why everything suddenly hurts more
You expect a few new sensations in pregnancy, and the first popping and rolling sensations of a new life inside you is expected. The uncomfortable jabs in the ribs from a baby foot, par for the course.
A shifting centre of gravity, a bit of stretching, maybe a few twinges as your body makes space...
What you don’t expect is how familiar some of that discomfort feels.
The hip that’s always been unpredictable now clunks and moans every time you turn over in bed.
Your ribs ache and burn after a short drive.
Your knees feel as though they’ve done a marathon after one flight of stairs.
And the tiredness isn’t the sleepy kind — it’s deep, whole-body exhaustion that seeps into every joint. Making it hard to keep your head upright on your shoulders at the end of the day.
People tell you pregnancy pain is normal. You nod, but somewhere you know this is different.
Your body has always worked harder to stay stable. But now it’s doing that while building a whole new human.
Why pregnancy pain and fatigue hit harder with hypermobility
Pregnancy hormones like relaxin and progesterone soften connective tissue so the pelvis can open for birth.
If you already have more elastic collagen, that softening doesn’t happen evenly.
Some joints move further, faster; others have surrounding muscles that lock up to cope with the extra movement and strain.
It becomes a constant tug-of-war between flexibility and stability — and your muscles pick up the slack. And that can create big problems.
In hypermobility spectrum disorder (HSD) or hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS), this often shows up early into the second trimester, sometimes before: hips that feel off-centre, knees that give way, backs that ache after short walks.
A 2024 international consensus looking at the management of childbearing with HSD and hEDS confirmed what many already know — pregnancy with HSD or hEDS brings higher rates of pelvic pain, fatigue and instability. But those who accessed early physiotherapy or movement education saw better comfort and faster recovery (read the study here.)
Your body isn’t fragile; it’s just working without the built-in brakes most people have. If a midwife or your GP suggests you wait for later in pregnancy for referral to physiotherapy, this is where you need to get proactive.
Building stability in an unstable body takes time. And in a body that's changing daily, time isn't something you have the luxury of.
How pregnancy changes a hypermobile body
Hormones don’t just target one area — they act everywhere. Although designed to help make the passage of baby easier; your ribs, shoulders, ankles, even your hands can feel looser or oddly unstable.
As your bump grows, weight travels through the path of least resistance.
If one area is weaker, another absorbs the strain. That’s why pain often moves around depending on the movement you are doing, or the position you've been in for a while.
Muscles that normally share the work — your glutes, inner thighs, deep core — end up doing constant stabilising.
Muscle fatigue becomes mechanical, and consistent. By evening, it can feel like your whole frame is on alert, waiting for something to slip out of place.
Current research confirms what many people experience:
Pain and fatigue are among the most disabling symptoms in hEDS and HSD, even outside of pregnancy.
Stability-focused exercise — slow, low-load strengthening and proprioceptive training — can improve function, balance, and daily confidence (Barton & Bird, Disabil Rehabil 2022; Rombaut et al., Arthritis Care Res 2012; Jelsma et al., Physiotherapy Theory Pract 2021).
Comprehensive physiotherapy based exercise approaches are feasible and acceptable for people with joint hypermobility syndrome, showing promise for pain and fatigue reduction (Dand et al., NIHR Pilot RCT, 2020).
Adjuncts like compression garments or guided control exercises may further support joint awareness and movement safety (Galli et al., Front Rehabil Sci 2024).
In other words, learning how your body moves and how movement in one area affects another, should be your strategy for coping with the strains of pregnancy.
Applying these same stability and awareness principles in pregnancy, with specialist guidance, is one of the most effective ways to manage symptoms and prepare for recovery.
How to make pregnancy easier when you have hypermobility
Pregnancy doesn’t give you a new body — it just magnifies the one you already live in.
If you’ve always had to think about how you move, that awareness becomes louder now. The balance between strength and softness matters more.
The small muscles that keep you steady need attention before the big ones can even begin to help.
When you start to understand how your body holds itself together — how easing pressure in one place can create space somewhere else — you finally have something to work with.
That’s what makes pregnancy easier: not tricks or quick fixes, but the growing sense that you actually know your own body.
1. Safe pregnancy movement: focus on stability, not stretch
No pregnant body needs extra flexibility, particularly pregnant hypermobile bodies; they need stability, awareness and feedback.
Stability-based movement keeps joints centred and helps muscles share the load evenly.
• Choose slow, controlled movements instead of large ranges.
• Keep at least one point of contact — wall, floor or prop — for awareness, providing feedback to your body.
• Strengthen glutes, deep abdominals and upper back for pelvic and spinal support.
• In yoga or Pilates, look for activation, not extension.
If a position feels unstable, that’s information — adjust until your body feels supported.
2. Preventing pregnancy pain by changing position often
Joints, particularly hypermobile ones, handle motion better than stillness.
After twenty minutes, muscles tire from fighting to keep you stable and ligaments lengthen, deepening the long-term problem.
That’s why long drives or sitting at a desk can leave you sore even when you haven’t “done” anything.
So, shift weight between feet when standing (this is a particularly good idea if you're of the POTS variety).
Avoid sitting cross-legged — it twists the pelvis and creates tension, where you really need freedom of movement.
Keep both feet grounded, so avoid high heels as much as you can. Use a cushion behind your lower back when sitting, and change position regularly.
3. Rest and pacing for hypermobile pregnancy fatigue
Pain is a delayed message when it comes to hypermobile bodies. By the time it appears, your stabilising muscles are already overworked and in need of a deep rest.
So practice resting before you think you need to.
Plan pauses the way you plan meals — evenly spaced, nourishing, essential.
Lie on your side for five minutes, breathe, reset your posture. Take some time every day for gentle elongation (like stretching, but aiming to ease tension from your body rather than making it go further).
Resting, and taking care of yourself is not indulgence. It’s active recovery in progress. And active preparation for birth and postnatal recovery too.
4. Pelvic support and strength: combining external and internal stability
A well-fitted support belt or bump band can make a world of difference, especially when worn low across the hips. It can provide important feedback to your body, and help you keep your body together.
But it only works long-term when paired with muscle activation and strengthening underneath.
A physiotherapist or pregnancy-movement specialist can teach small, precise exercises for the deep glutes and lower back — movements that stabilise the pelvis instead of bracing it.
At night, use pillows with intention: one between the knees and lower legs, one under the bump, one behind the back.
Keep the pelvis level. Symmetry equals rest.
Every bit of relief I’ve ever seen came from understanding the body, not fighting it.
Once you start to see the patterns — how easing one area can shift the strain somewhere else — everything changes.
The body works as a chain, not in parts.
That understanding changes how you move, how you recover, and how you give birth.
5. Specialist physiotherapy and early support
Don’t wait until pain takes over. Ask your midwife or GP for a pelvic-health physiotherapy referral as soon as symptoms begin. Even better, insist upon it as part of your plan from your booking appointment in your first trimester.
A pregnancy safe therapist who understands hypermobility can help you:
• Identify which joints are causing problems.
• Build a realistic strengthening plan.
• Learn joint-protection strategies for daily movement.
When NHS access is slow, the Pregnancy & Birth with Hypermobility Course gives you evidence-based tools and guided movement you can start immediately — designed for the way hypermobile bodies actually work.
How understanding your body supports birth and recovery
While there’s limited pregnancy-specific research, studies in non-pregnant people with hEDS and HSD show that stability-focused strengthening and proprioceptive training improve movement control and joint confidence. Those same principles support recovery too — because the more balanced and aware your body is during pregnancy, the better prepared it is to regain function afterwards
Pregnancy with hypermobility doesn’t have to be endurance
There’s nothing weak about what your body’s doing. It’s holding more, adjusting more, carrying more than most people will ever have to think about.
Once you see the patterns — how movement, rest and recovery all shape each other — you stop fighting your body and start understanding it.
That’s when everything begins to change.
You’re not fragile. You’re adaptable, capable, built for change.
And with the right support, pregnancy can feel less like something to get through and more like something you’re part of.
I've been there, and I've put my experience from both sides into this unique Hypermobile Pregnancy and Birth course - so you can feel supported physically and mentally.
→ Explore the Hypermobile Pregnancy and Birth Course
