How to Ease Pregnancy Tailbone Pain: Tips, Stretches & More

If you're pregnant, you probably want to sit down frequently and take a load off. But if your tailbone is killing you, that's probably the last thing you want to do. You may be struggling to drive comfortably, work, or even relax and watch TV.

At Origin, we're here to help you get relief from pregnancy tailbone pain. Read on for a toolkit of strategies to ease your pain.

Pregnancy tailbone pain at a glance

What it is: also called coccydynia in pregnancy. This is pain at or around the coccyx, the tiny tailbone at the base of the spine, that begins during pregnancy.

‍Who’s at risk: Tailbone pain can occur in pregnant and non-pregnant people. However, pregnant people may be particularly predisposed to coccyx pain. Pregnancy increases the mobility of the joint between your tailbone (coccyx) and the sacrum, which can contribute to pain.

In fact, 69% of all people (including non-pregnant people) with tailbone pain have abnormal coccyx movement. Altered mobility isn’t the only cause of coccyx pain in pregnancy, but it can contribute in many cases.

Common causes: Compared to the postpartum data, there is less research on the causes of tailbone pain that starts during pregnancy. During pregnancy, tailbone pain can co-exist with other types of pelvic girdle pain: this can make it tricky to study.

Other common causes of tailbone pain include:

• Traumatic injury, such as a fall on the tailbone or compression/traction during vaginal delivery
• Vaginal delivery assisted by forceps or vacuum suction

‍What can help: Minimizing direct pressure on the tailbone can be very helpful, especially if your problem is tailbone pain when sitting while pregnant. If pelvic floor muscle problems contribute to your tailbone symptoms, stretches and exercises for those muscles can reduce pain. Pelvic floor physical therapy can help you learn exactly which movements to prioritize and habits to change.

Where is my tailbone, exactly?

Your tailbone, also called the coccyx, is the bony structure at the bottom of your spine. The coccyx is a triangular bone made up of 3-5 vertebral segments that partially fuse together. The coccyx attaches to the bottom of your sacrum via the sacrococcygeal joint.

To locate your coccyx, place a finger at the base of your spine and move it down between your glutes to find the bottom of your tailbone. (If you've reached your anus, you've gone too far.)

What does tailbone pain feel like?

As with all types of pain, the individual experience of tailbone pain varies significantly from person to person.

As a pelvic floor physical therapist who treats pregnant patients with tailbone pain, I've heard it described in all of the following ways:

• low back pain
• pelvic pain
• hip pain
• sharp pain that comes and goes
• dull pain that gets worse at the end of the day

As this list shows, there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to tailbone pain in pregnancy. However, there are a few common patterns that many people with this problem share. 

• Pain with transitions: Coccyx pain in pregnancy usually gets worse if you stand or sit for a long time or lean back in your chair. Pay may also feel more sharp when you move from sitting to standing, pass a bowel movement, or have sex.
• Direct pressure to the coccyx: If you've recently injured your tailbone, pressing your finger against it can trigger pain or tenderness. For many people with tailbone pain, though, touching the tailbone directly may not hurt at all. Instead, you may feel achy pain in the region of the sacrum, coccyx, and surrounding tissues.

Why does tailbone pain occur in pregnancy?

Increased joint mobility, elevated internal pressure, and prolonged force against the tailbone can all lead to pelvic floor and tailbone pain in pregnancy.

Increased joint mobility

The tailbone usually moves very little at its joint with the sacrum, only tilting 5-15 degrees forward or backward. During pregnancy, though, this flexibility can increase. This allows the tailbone to move more than usual, which may lead to pain. 

Elevated internal pressure

As your baby grows, the pressure in your pelvis increases. This can push your tailbone back and cause strain on the joint. As a result, it may become harder for you to sit comfortably. All these changes can translate into increased tailbone pain in pregnancy.

Direct trauma and force to the tailbone

Pregnancy tailbone pain can develop slowly over several months. It can also start after direct injury or trauma to the area. Periods of prolonged sitting (think: a 6-hour crosscountry flight) can trigger this condition in some people.

How do I get instant relief from pregnancy tailbone pain?

To lessen tailbone pain quickly, especially tailbone pain when sitting, you'll need to adjust how you sit. Start with the chair or seat you sit in most often (e.g. the driver's seat in your car, your desk chair, or your couch).

Follow these steps:

• Sit down and allow yourself to just sink into your seat.
• Roll your pelvis forward so that your belly comes forward, your back arches, and your tailbone lifts off the chair. Your sit bones and the backs of your legs should remain in contact with the seat.
• Place a rolled towel or wedge pillow underneath your tailbone to keep it in this position. Add a small pillow or rolled towel behind your back (against the backrest) for added lumbar support.

In this new position, some weight will still be on your tailbone, but it should be less than if you were sitting with a rounded back. If this helps, consider buying a cushion designed for tailbone pain. "Coccyx cushions" have a space cut out to relieve pressure on the tailbone while sitting.

Some other tips:

• Buy several coccyx pillows for your favorite seats so you don't have to bring one with you everywhere. (Keep one in your car!)
• Don't have a pillow on hand? Use your scarf, sweater, or coat to prop up your tailbone and/or support your back.
• Prop up your tailbone even when sitting on soft seats like a couch. Sitting on a soft surface may not hurt, but it still puts pressure on your tailbone. This can prolong your recovery.

My tailbone still hurts during pregnancy: what exercises can I do?

Relaxing and stretching your pelvic floor can also help relieve your tailbone pain. Several pelvic floor muscles attach directly to the coccyx. When contracted, these muscles can pull on the tailbone, aggravating it. 

In some cases, the pelvic floor muscles stay contracted more than they should. This can contribute to ongoing tailbone pain. This is even more likely to happen when you've had other kinds of pain in or near your pelvis in the past.

Below are 5 exercises you can do throughout your pregnancy to encourage your pelvic floor muscles to relax and become less resistant to stretch. (If your doctor has put you on 'pelvic rest' or given you other exercise warnings, talk to them before doing these moves.)

1) Inhale into your pelvic floor

• Start lying comfortably on your back.
• Inhale deeply, allowing air to fill your lower belly and flow all the way down into your pelvic floor. Allow your pelvic floor to relax and lengthen down, away from your trunk.
• On exhale, allow your pelvic floor to return to its resting/neutral position. No need to squeeze: just let it relax back to neutral.

Note: While it helps to learn this technique lying down, you can practice this breathing technique in any position. Try to do this before bowel movements and any time you feel increased tailbone pain.

2) Stretch your pelvic floor

• Begin kneeling on a comfortable surface.
• Separate your knees so that they are slightly wider than hip distance apart.
• Sit back onto your heels and stretch your arms out in front of you. Let your head and shoulders relax here.
• Hold this position and breathe, feeling your abdomen and pelvic floor expand outward as you inhale. Feel them relax naturally toward your spine as you exhale.

3) Release your pelvic floor

• Start lying on one side. Place a pillow between your thighs to level your pelvis.
• Reach the top arm behind you to locate your sitting bones.
• Place the pads of your fingers on the inside wall of your bottom sits bone, just to the side of your perineum (the space between your anal and vaginal openings).
• Take several deep diaphragmatic breaths as you apply firm pressure to any tender areas.

4) Keep your hips mobile

• Lift one foot off the floor and rest it on top of your opposite knee.
• Keeping your back straight, lean your trunk forward, hinging at the hip. This should reduce sitting pressure on your tailbone.
• Apply gentle pressure downwards into your bent knee for a deeper stretch.
• Hold this position and breathe for at least 30 seconds.
• Slowly switch legs to repeat on the other side.

5) Move your body

• Stand with your back resting against a wall and your feet slightly out in front of you.
• Tuck your tailbone, pressing your lower back into the wall. This should remove any space between your back and the wall, forming a "C" position.
• Return to your starting position.
• Keep your pelvis in contact with the wall as you pull your low back further away from the wall, feeling your tailbone move towards the wall with this motion.
• Return to your starting position and repeat these motions slowly in both directions.

Cushioning your tailbone and relaxing your pelvic floor can significantly reduce tailbone pain in early pregnancy and beyond. However, if your symptoms stick around or get worse, it’s time to talk to your healthcare provider and book a visit with a pelvic floor physical therapist at Origin. 

How can pelvic floor physical therapy help with pregnancy tailbone pain?

When simple stretches and cushioning aren’t enough, pelvic floor physical therapy for tailbone pain in pregnancy can help you identify and address other contributors. Your physical therapist will first work with you to identify the underlying trigger(s) of your tailbone pain.

If your pelvic floor muscles are particularly resistant to stretch or contain trigger points, they may be driving your symptoms. Because these muscles are deep inside the pelvis, they can be difficult to access on your own. This is where a pelvic floor physical therapist becomes a huge help: they can perform manual techniques to reduce that resistance to stretch and desensitize irritable muscles. 

How do I know if I need medical care for my pregnancy tailbone pain?

Sometimes, tailbone pain can be a sign of a serious underlying medical condition, so it’s important to rule out that possibility. If the pain wakes you up at night or doesn't seem to change when you change body positions, set up an appointment for further workup with your pregnancy care provider.

When you talk to your provider, be sure to advocate for yourself. OB-GYNs and midwives sometimes assume that pregnancy pain and discomfort is "normal." The truth is that pain is never normal, and you don’t have to “just live with it”.

If you’ve been trying these recommended techniques for a couple of weeks with no change in your symptoms, it’s time to bring in the big guns. At Origin, our clinicians routinely evaluate and treat patients with coccydynia in pregnancy. Schedule your first visit today: we're here to help you feel good in your body throughout pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond.

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Sources Cited

Bain, Hunter L., et al. “Coccyx Pain.” StatPearls, StatPearls Publishing, 9 August 2025.

Garg, Bhavuk, and Kaustubh Ahuja. “Coccydynia-A comprehensive review on etiology, radiological features and management options.” Journal of clinical orthopaedics and trauma vol. 12,1 (2021): 123-129. doi:10.1016/j.jcot.2020.09.025

Márquez-Carrasco, Ángeles María et al. “Coccyx pain in women after childbirth.” “El dolor de cóccix en la mujer tras el parto.” Enfermeria clinica vol. 29,4 (2019): 245-247. doi:10.1016/j.enfcli.2019.01.005

Sandrasegaram, N et al. “Diagnosis and management of sacrococcygeal pain.” BJA education vol. 20,3 (2020): 74-79. doi:10.1016/j.bjae.2019.11.004