Week 22 of pregnancy: Supporting Your Back and Staying Active

At 22 weeks, the question may be less about whether your body is changing and more about how to work with those changes. A chair that used to feel comfortable may need support, or an activity may need adjusting. Back pain deserves attention rather than being accepted as an unavoidable part of pregnancy.

Start with an assessment when pain is new

Contact your midwife or doctor urgently about new back pain at this stage, particularly if it is unusual for you. Backache in the second or third trimester can sometimes be associated with early labour. Fever, vaginal bleeding, painful urination or pain beneath the ribs also need urgent advice.

Back pain with loss of feeling in your legs, buttocks or genitals needs emergency assessment. Do not begin a new exercise routine to test whether these symptoms improve.

If the pain has already been assessed as a musculoskeletal problem, ask what changes suit your situation. The back pain in pregnancy guide discusses that ongoing care.

Make everyday movements easier

Support your back while sitting, avoid heavy lifting and turn by moving your feet instead of twisting through your back. When picking something up, bend your knees. These adjustments may reduce strain, but persistent or severe pain can need physiotherapy advice.

Choose one recurring task to discuss at your appointment. For example, explain whether pain starts when getting out of a car, carrying shopping or sitting at a desk. Describe what stops you doing the task, not only where you feel pain. That gives your care team more useful information than a pain label alone.

Adapt activity to how you feel

For many people with an uncomplicated pregnancy, comfortable activity remains appropriate. Build up gradually if you were not active before pregnancy, tell an instructor that you are pregnant, and follow any individual restrictions from your care team. Stop if activity makes you unwell or uncomfortable. Avoid activities with a substantial risk of falling or abdominal impact.

Our pregnancy exercise guide gives more detail. You do not need to maintain a previous pace to make movement worthwhile.

Development and care this week

Your baby’s lungs are still developing, with breathing movements practised inside the womb. Development is ongoing; a weekly description does not mean a baby born now would be ready to breathe independently.

Before 37 weeks, regular tightenings, pains like period cramps, leaking fluid or unusual backache require an immediate call to maternity care. Do not assume these are exercise effects or wait for them to fit a labour pattern you have read about for the due date.