‘The sofa is my base in daily life’: The experience of long-term, pelvic girdle pain after giving birth

Abstract

In this study, we investigated how women struggling with long-term pelvic girdle pain after giving birth experienced and coped in their daily life. We conducted individual interviews with 9 women with pain between 3 and 26 years after giving birth. We found that pelvic girdle pain results in significant challenges, influencing women’s relationships with their children, partners and wider network. The pain demands careful planning and time for rest, influences women’s ability to work, and creates feelings of isolation and shame. The informants connect the lack of formal diagnostic criteria for the condition to the low level of societal recognition.