How Pregnancy Affects Your Bones
It’s no secret that people with a uterus go through profound changes when pregnant, and we’ve talked at length about some of those different changes. However, one of the last things you might think of that could be affected by pregnancy is your bones – yet it is another area where you may experience positive or negative impacts before, during, and following pregnancy.
Impacts of pregnancy on bone health
We know that while pregnant, the fetus gets its nutrients from the mother. This includes calcium. Which comes as no surprise as a critical nutrient for a baby’s growth and development. Calcium can come from the nutrients in foods that a pregnant person eats, but it could also be moved out of the pregnant person’s bones, part of a process called “remodeling”.
But despite calcium moving from parent to fetus, in many cases, pregnancy has a very positive effect on bone health and density. This is because, in pregnancy, estrogen levels go through the roof – and it’s a key hormone for building strong bones. So while pregnant, bone density is more likely to increase. The biggest impact on bone density occurs in the post-partum period when estrogen levels significantly drop – not unlike when women experience menopause. Luckily for postpartum parents, that drop is usually temporary and will recover to normal levels once menstruation begins again.
Does breastfeeding impact bone health?
It was largely assumed in the past that breastfeeding your newborn would have detrimental impacts on your bone health and play a heavy role in the development of osteoporosis later in life. According to many of our sources for this piece, that understanding is largely a myth. As more studies have been done on pregnancy, breastfeeding, and bone health, the results have shown that breastfeeding is more likely to have positive long-term effects on bone health.
So, whether or not you choose to breastfeed, know that you don’t have to worry about it impacting your bones long-term.
Pregnancy-related bone issues
While overall, pregnancy, lactation, and breastfeeding are beneficial to bones, there are rare occurrences of osteoporosis during pregnancy.
Pregnancy-associated osteoporosis (PAO or PLO) is an extremely rare condition where bones become very fragile and can break right around delivery or in the few months after birth. There’s not a great estimate that we were able to find, but one source estimates that less than 200,000 pregnant people per year experience it.
You may be more susceptible to bone issues during pregnancy if any of the following are true:
Family history of osteoporosis
History of disordered eating or female athlete triad
Digestive disorders (i.e. Crohn’s Disease)
Pre-existing bone conditions such as brittle bone disease
If you’re concerned about your calcium intake, in none of our sources was it recommended that pregnant or postpartum people take calcium supplements. To ensure better absorption of calcium into your body, you would be much better off eating several calcium-rich foods as part of your diet throughout the day.