What is pregnancy-associated osteoporosis and what are its symptoms

dailyrecord.co.uk:

English singer-songwriter Lucy Rose said she “couldn’t pick up my baby” after she was diagnosed with a rare form of pregnancy-associated osteoporosis (PAO).During an interview with the BBC, the 34-year-old shared that after trying to convince healthcare professionals that something was wrong and visiting a chiropractor – who made things worse – her husband decided to pay for a private MRI scan.The results showed that her bone was broken in eight different places and that she had the bone density of someone who was aged 110.“I couldn’t pick up my baby, I couldn’t push a pram, I couldn’t even wash my hair,” she told the BBC.“Every time I’d go in and it was the same thing,” she says. “I’d be yelping in pain, then he’d prod my back and say, ‘There’s nothing wrong here – back pain is part and parcel of having a baby’.“It got to the point where I was crying, begging for an MRI and the doctor told me I needed to dial it down and I was being over the top.”Pregnancy-associated osteoporosis (PAO) affects one in 100,000 people and can be very isolating for new mothers.

But what exactly is it and what are the symptoms to look out for? Health experts share everything you need to know. According to Kiran Jones, a pharmacist at Oxford Online Pharmacy, pregnancy-associated osteoporosis, also known as pregnancy-and-lactation-associated osteoporosis, is a severe type of bone weakening that happens in women who are pregnant or recently after giving birth. “This weakening leads to bones breaking, chipping or fracturing, which can happen during day-to-day activities.

These fractures occur most commonly in the spine’s bones and less often in the hips.“We think that for some women, pregnancy triggers an unusual and unexpected change in how