As pregnancy progresses, we watch our belly expand, but what about our hips? Some women have noticeable changes to the width of their hips during pregnancy, and others are not aware of any widening until they try to put on their jeans after losing the extra baby weight.

What causes postpartum hip change?

Postpartum hip changes are real. A woman's body, and particularly the pelvis and hips, are uniquely designed to accommodate a growing foetus and to deliver the child in childbirth. To prepare the pelvis for delivery, the hormone relaxin is released during pregnancy to help relax the pelvic joints and ligaments as well as soften and widen the cervix. By relaxing the pelvic joints and ligaments, they loosen and expand so baby can pass through the birth canal. The pelvic area most affected by relaxin is the symphysis pubis and sacroiliac joints. Due to this natural occurrence some women do experience wider hips after pregnancy.

Can you reduce postpartum hip change?

To help reduce postpartum hip changes, some women look to hip binding. Cultures around the world have been binding their bodies after pregnancy for centuries. Binding the hips immediately after birth can help stabilise loosened pelvic joints and help hips return to their pre-pregnancy position.

Binding the hips helps narrow the circumference of the pelvic bones, so you can lose inches around your hips even without postpartum weight loss. Pelvic bones and hips will remain the size they were after binding even if your weight fluctuates. However, to be effective, hip binding must be done during the first 8 weeks postpartum while the relaxin hormone levels are still elevated.

Shrinkx Hips has been shown to narrow hips

Thanks to the hormone relaxin (truly a gift from Mother Nature) and the Shrinkx Hips postpartum hip compression belt, wider hips don't have to happen. Launched in 2009, Shrinkx Hips was the first postpartum compression wrap designed exclusively for the hips and is the only postpartum band or wrap clinically proven to narrow hips. In the Shrinkx Hips Clinical Study, 95% of mums returned to their pre-pregnancy hip size, or smaller, after wearing Shrinkx Hips.

The postpartum gift that keeps giving

Binding the hips can be done after each pregnancy as hips will expand with each delivery. Some women may not experience wider hips after their first delivery but may see increased widening with each subsequent pregnancy. Why chance wider hips? Give binding a try. After all women have been doing it for centuries, so they must be on to something good!