When your back feels tight or even painful, the first thing you probably say is “I need to stretch more”. And although stretching and back mobility is one component to back health, it will never be the best or only remedy. Stretching lengthens muscles…in the moment, but it rarely is enough for spasms, and definitely isn’t enough for chronic or recurring pain. Most often, the cause of back pain for moms is feeding posture, carrying, and lifting their baby, weak core. This pain may appear in pregnancy and continue postpartum, or not show up until after the fourth trimester as your baby grows. To truly address your pain, you have to address the cause. The moms I work with have significantly less back pain than most because we focus on range of motion (mobility) of joints like hips, knees and ankles, because we strengthen the muscles involved in mom posture (rounding shoulders), and we strength train for mom movements (lifting, bending).