Supporting Breastfeeding and bottle feeding (and Your Pelvic Floor): A Pelvic-Floor Physio’s Perspective
The Link Between Breastfeeding and Pelvic Health
Breastfeeding and bottle feeding is a beautiful part of motherhood—but it can also be physically repetitive and demanding on your body, particularly on your mid- back, abdominal and pelvic floor muscles early in your recovery from birth. This can be further exacerbated by poor posture which places additional strain on your neck, lower back and pelvis. The hormonal shifts (including lower estrogen and elevated prolactin) that occur with breastfeeding can further affect the musculoskeletal structures in the body, and cause concerns such as vulval dryness, urinary frequency and bodily aches and pains. This is termed the genito urinary syndrome of lactation and can occur regardless of vaginal or caesarean birth.
Why Positioning Matters
Positioning for breastfeeding and bottle feeding is important to minimise aches and pains and support postpartum recovery. Here are some of our top tips:
Sit on a firm surface with high back support, such as chairs designed for nursing or a dining chair, and lean back into the surface to allow your postural muscles to relax
Have a small pillow support behind your lower back to promote maintenance of the natural lumbar curve and reduce compression on your intervertebral discs
Use an additional pillow underneath your bub to bring them to your breast, rather than trying to slump your breast to your bub.
At Embrace Physio + Pilates, we love recommending the Butterfly Maternity range to our patients. The dual-purpose design of the Butterfly Pillow means it can be used throughout pregnancy and into the postpartum period, helping you through many nights of sleep and supporting breastfeeding. You will need to purchase the Nursing Cover to help convert it into a support pillow. With no zips, tabs, or buttons, its tie design creates a sturdy wedge, elevating your baby to breast level and taking strain off your arms and shoulders.
Try side lying breastfeeding once bub has an established latch which can help postural muscles relax further, take pressure off the pelvic floor muscles and allow you to also place a pillow between your knees and ankles to find relief from any persistent pelvic girdle pain.
Once your baby is feeding successfully, try not to stare at their beautiful face the entire time (as this will cause lots of neck and shoulder tension) or scroll on your phone (as this will cause lots of wrist and thumb pain).
How Pelvic Floor Physiotherapists Can Help
As pelvic health physiotherapists, we can also support your sleep by creating a personalised stretching routine, providing soft tissue therapy, optimising your sleep hygiene, and discussing the best positions and pillow support for your body. We have multiple brands and pillows available in the clinic for you to try, including the Butterfly Pillow, to help you find the best one for your needs.
Plus, if you are experiencing any difficulties with blocked ducts, mastitis or symptoms of genito urinary syndrome of lactation we can also provide advice and treatment options. This can include lymphatic massage for blocked ducts, therapeutic ultrasound and pelvic floor exercise prescription (which you can also do whilst you feed your baby!). We know how much poor sleep and fatigue can worsen pain, so supporting your rest during this stage is incredibly important.
You can book an initial pregnancy or postpartum assessment by clicking the link here.
Butterfly Maternity have kindly provided a discount code for you to try their Butterfly Pillow: Embrace25, which can be purchased here!
Authors: Jessica Adams and Sophie Clarke, 2025