# Hip shrinking belt for postpartum



## annahawk (Dec 9, 2007)

Months ago I ordered this belt called shrinx hips which claims that when worn the first 8 weeks after delivery it can help your hips return to their pre-preg. size or even a size or two smaller. I was intrigued, b/c, well, even before pg, I've always been built like a triangle. If it doesn't work, no big deal. I even bought it with a gift card, so I'm not really out cash. But I have been wondering, what if it does work. Could there be any negative effects? What I'm thinking specifically is, if it does make your hips smaller by pushing your bones closer together, could that create any problems if you deliver another child in the future? Would your hips beging spreading again naturally during the next pg? If not, would it make for a more difficult or even impossible vaginal delivery? If any of this is true, I probably wont use it. I'd rather be able to give birth naturally than have super-model hips, kwim? Supposedly this was created with the help of orthopedic specialists. Looks like they might think of this being an issue? Anyone have any knowledge on the subject?


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## evjolin (Sep 3, 2008)

hi  i have no knowledge about this, and in fact had just recently posted something about shrinx hips wondering if people had had any success with it.

i DID talk with my mw about it at our last appt, and she did bring up that very issue--why would you want to shrink your hip size if you are planning on more pregnancies and vaginal births? she didn't seem concerned about ruining your chances of a vaginal birth, but i thought her point was valid and will probably wait to use it until i know it's my last baby 

i would ask your hcp, curious what info you get!


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## ~Demeter~ (Jul 22, 2006)

Hmm... I'm not so sure about that? I can see if you wore that belt for a long period of time but in the days following birth your body is pretty malleable. It will help support and hold things but I doubt you'd shrink that much smaller than what you naturally would be unless you are binding yourself pretty tight.

As for small hips and birthing vaginally. I was a size 0, no hips, 83 pounds starting off with 4 of my pregnancies. After my daughter, 2 years ago, I didn't shrink back down... but anyway, my point is... you can have small hips/pelvic area and still birth vaginally if everything spreads the way it should.


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## Sidni (Aug 5, 2011)

When you are pregnant your pelvic bones naturally expand to allow the head of a baby to pass through the opening between your sacrum and frontal pelvic bone. Naturally these bones stay expanded if you do not use a product like Shrinkx which purely brings them back to your prepregnancy bone structure. You must use it within 8 weeks bc relaxin, the hormone which causes all of your joints to relax, begins leveling off and dissipating completely around 8 weeks. You can not make it more difficult for your body since everytime you are pregnant this hormone naturally comes into effect. If you shrank your hips after your first baby then your second birth would be just as easy or difficult as your first.


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## lactatinggirl (Nov 22, 2009)

I think that the whole "hips too small for vaginal delivery" thing is mostly a lie anyway. I'm sure it RARELY happens, but most doctors try to say it's the case before the mother even goes into labor from an ultrasound which is notorious for being 2 lbs wrong either direction. I'm thinking if your genetic makeup makes big babies, your hips will, almost always, be big enough to birth them.


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## kcparker (Apr 6, 2008)

Honestly, this looks like sort of a bogus product that plays on women's insecurities about our bodies. Your pelvis is a bony structure - it can't and should not become somehow "smaller than pre-pregnancy". That would mean you have suffered a deformation of some sort. In general, as your hormones return to their non-pregnant levels, the relaxin will leave your system and your pelvis will be pretty darn close to what it was before baby made his entrance. Maybe if you have had SPD, it would be more beneficial than if you did not use some extra support. I suspect that part of how this works is that it compresses the adipose tissue around the hips and buttocks, sort of like a girdle. If you have some extra padding on your hips, time, breastfeeding, and exercise will return your hips to approximately their prepregnancy size (maybe not in 8 weeks, but in most cases within a year. I doubt that this product would be out and out harmful, but question its necessity.

Look at their clinical study, which they paid for, and which contains no biometric data (like pre- and post-pregnancy weight, for example) on the participants, only gender (obviously), parturition status, and age. It says nothing about diet, exercise, breastfeeding status, type of delivery, or any of the other potential confounding variables. There is no control group of similar women who did not wear the Shrinkx Hips. This does not give me much confidence in the reliability or credibility of their study, and anecdotal data such as "customer success stories" also does not equal evidence.

Their OB and orthopedic endorsements are also not definite, but conditional.

"Postpartum looseness of the pelvic joints and ligaments is real, due to the effects of the pregnancy hormone Relaxin. Applying pressure to the hips by using Shrinkx Hips while joints and ligaments are stabilizing *could* assist women in returning their hips to a pre-pregnancy size. " -Steven Solomon, M.D., Obstetrics / Gynecology

"By stabilizing and returning pelvic joints to their pre-pregnancy position, Shrinkx Hips *could* allow women to get back to sports and physical fitness activities sooner." - Tyler D. Goldberg, M.D., Orthopedics


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## cameragirl (Apr 15, 2010)

On a similar note, are post-partum belly binding bands effective? Or are you really seeing the normal uterine shrinking that you'd see in the first 8 weeks anyway?


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## lifeguard (May 12, 2008)

I think the difference for belly binding (in my mind) is that it would be comforting for those first few days. After ds was born I felt like my middle was a big hollow area & it was really uncomfortable. I didn't feel like my body was able to support itself adequately. It took less than a week for that feeling to go away but I could see how belly binding for a few hours each day in the first week would really be a comfort.


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## cameragirl (Apr 15, 2010)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *lifeguard*
> 
> I think the difference for belly binding (in my mind) is that it would be comforting for those first few days. After ds was born I felt like my middle was a big hollow area & it was really uncomfortable. I didn't feel like my body was able to support itself adequately. It took less than a week for that feeling to go away but I could see how belly binding for a few hours each day in the first week would really be a comfort.


I can definitely see that, especially after a c-section. There is a lot of pulling and uncomfort around the incision.


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## AZgirl2207 (Jun 25, 2006)

I used a belly binder for two weeks following my last baby (birth #3). I don't know if it made my tummy smaller long term. However, it certainly made me feel better about myself. I had better posture and no feeling of 'falling out' down there. I believe belly binding is also recommended if you have separation of your ab muscles (I forget the correct medical term).


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