Pelvic popping and clicking in late pregnancy is almost always caused by your joints becoming looser in preparation for birth. Hormones soften the tough connective tissue holding your pelvic bones together, and as those joints gain more movement than usual, they can produce audible clicks, pops, or even grinding sensations. It’s one of the most common (and most unsettling) physical changes of the third trimester.
What’s Happening Inside Your Pelvis
Your pelvis isn’t one solid bone. It’s a ring of bones connected by joints and ligaments, with two key areas of movement: the pubic symphysis at the front (where your left and right pelvic bones meet) and the sacroiliac joints at the back (where the base of your spine connects to each side of the pelvis). Outside of pregnancy, these joints barely move at all.
During pregnancy, your body produces hormones, primarily relaxin and estrogen, that alter the structure of collagen in your ligaments. This loosens the fibrous tissue holding those joints in place, allowing the pelvic ring to expand. The pubic symphysis normally widens by about 3 to 5 millimeters during pregnancy and can stretch up to 9 millimeters and still be considered within the normal range. The sacroiliac joints loosen too, and the amount of fluid inside those joints increases. All of this extra mobility is what lets your pelvis make room for delivery. It’s also what creates those popping and clicking sounds when you walk, roll over in bed, or shift your weight.
The sounds themselves come from the same basic mechanisms behind any joint pop: gas bubbles releasing in the joint fluid, ligaments snapping over bony surfaces, or the joint surfaces shifting against each other. When your ligaments are lax and your joints have more play than usual, these noises happen more easily and more often.
How Common Pelvic Pain and Clicking Are
Pelvic girdle pain, the broad term for discomfort in this area during pregnancy, affects a significant number of women. The average reported prevalence across studies is about 45%, and in late pregnancy that figure may climb to 60 to 70%. Not all of these women experience audible popping, but a clicking or grinding sound from the pelvis is a recognized symptom of pelvic girdle pain, particularly when it involves the pubic symphysis.
A specific condition called symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD) describes what happens when that front joint becomes particularly unstable or inflamed. Common sensations include a feeling that your pelvis is “loose and wobbly,” shooting pain in the front or back of the pelvis, and pain radiating into the groin, thighs, or lower back. Some women also notice difficulty urinating, unexplained fatigue, or that grinding and clicking sound. SPD ranges widely in severity. For some women it’s a mild annoyance; for others, weight-bearing movements like walking become genuinely difficult.
What Makes It Worse
Certain movements tend to provoke the popping and pain more than others. Anything that loads one side of the pelvis, like climbing stairs, standing on one leg to get dressed, or getting in and out of a car, forces the loosened joints to work asymmetrically. Rolling over in bed is another common trigger because the pelvis twists under your body weight. Wide leg positions, sudden direction changes, and long periods of standing can all intensify symptoms.
The popping itself is not damaging the joint. But if it consistently comes with sharp pain, that’s a signal the joint is being stressed beyond what the surrounding muscles can stabilize.
How to Reduce the Popping and Pain
The most effective strategies focus on keeping the pelvis stable and symmetric so those loose joints aren’t forced into awkward positions.
Movement Adjustments
When turning in bed, bend your knees up, tighten your abdominal muscles, and keep your knees together so your shoulder and hip roll as one unit rather than twisting. To get out of bed, roll onto your side first, drop your legs over the edge, and push yourself up with your hands. Reverse the process to get in. These small changes prevent the pelvis from being loaded unevenly.
Sleeping on your side with a pillow between your knees keeps the pelvis aligned. As your belly grows, an additional pillow or rolled towel under your bump reduces strain on your hips and lower back. If your hips ache at night despite this, your mattress may be too firm. Folding a single duvet and creating a slight hollow for your hips to sink into can relieve pressure on the joints.
Pelvic Support Belts
A pelvic belt wraps around the hips (not the waist) and compresses the sacroiliac joints just enough to restore some of the stability that the loosened ligaments can no longer provide. Studies have found that wearing one can reduce pain intensity by a meaningful margin and improve walking. The belt works partly through direct compression and partly by giving the muscles and nervous system better feedback about where the pelvis is in space, which helps your body control movement more effectively. A narrow, flexible belt tends to work better than a broad, rigid one. They have no known side effects and are considered well suited for pregnant women.
Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy
A pelvic floor therapist can teach you exercises that strengthen the muscles supporting the pelvic ring. Common ones include bridges, pelvic tilts, bird dogs, and Kegels, along with diaphragmatic breathing techniques. Manual therapy, using gentle pressure and massage to relax tight muscles around the pelvis, is another tool therapists use. You can start working with a pelvic floor therapist as early as the second trimester, and doing so may help prevent symptoms from developing or worsening later.
General Habits
Keep your knees together when getting in or out of a car. Sit down to put on pants and shoes instead of balancing on one leg. Take stairs one step at a time, leading with the same leg going up and the other going down. Avoid pushing through pain during exercise, since the loosened joints don’t have the same margin of safety they normally would. Swimming and stationary cycling are often well tolerated because they keep the pelvis symmetric and supported.
When the Popping Signals Something More Serious
Mild clicking and discomfort are normal. But if the pubic symphysis widens beyond 10 millimeters, it crosses into a condition called pubic symphysis diastasis, which causes severe pain at the front of the pelvis, difficulty walking, and sometimes a visible or palpable gap. This is uncommon but requires medical attention. Your provider can measure the gap with an ultrasound.
Seek prompt evaluation if pelvic pain is accompanied by vaginal bleeding, fever and chills, pain that is severe and worsens with any movement, or symptoms like fainting, lightheadedness, or a racing heart. These can indicate complications unrelated to normal joint laxity.
What This Means for Labor and Delivery
Having pelvic joint instability does not mean you need a cesarean delivery. It does mean your care team should know about it so they can plan accordingly. Recommendations for women with significant pelvic girdle pain include minimizing the time spent in positions that force the legs wide apart, reducing hip abduction during pushing, and considering hands-and-knees or side-lying positions during delivery. These reduce stress on the already-loosened pubic symphysis and sacroiliac joints.
Most women find that the popping and instability resolve within a few months after delivery as hormone levels return to normal. The pubic symphysis typically returns to its original width within about five months postpartum.