Relaxin — the hormone that loosened your joints and ligaments for birth — doesn't switch off when the baby arrives. It stays elevated for roughly 12 weeks, its loosening effect on joints can persist up to 6 months, and longer if you breastfeed. That's why your hips, SI joint, and wrists can feel unstable long after everyone assumes you've "bounced back." The right movement in this window is low-impact and floor-based, not a fast return to high-impact exercise.
A few things to know before you read on
- Relaxin loosens ligaments and joints during pregnancy. It doesn't clear immediately after birth.
- Levels stay elevated for about 12 weeks; the joint-loosening effect can last up to ~6 months — and longer while breastfeeding keeps it circulating.
- This is why hips, pelvis, SI joint, and wrists can feel loose, clicky, or unstable months postpartum. You're not imagining it.
- Safe movement now is controlled and low-impact — not a return to running and jumping on still-loose joints.
How long does relaxin stay in your body after birth?
Longer than the six-week checkup implies. Blood levels drop over roughly the first three months, but the ligament laxity relaxin created lingers as tissues slowly retighten — commonly up to about six months, and often longer if you breastfeed, because lactation hormones keep relaxin in the picture. So the loose, slightly unstable feeling in your joints isn't weakness or a setback. It's a hormone still doing its slow work of leaving.
Why do my joints still hurt months after having a baby?
Because loose ligaments change how your joints carry load. Your pelvis and SI joint may feel like they shift; your wrists and thumbs ache from lifting; your hips click. Add a weakened core and pelvic floor still rebuilding, and the instability has somewhere to show up. Naming it helps: this is a known, temporary stage of recovery, not a sign your body is failing you.
What movement is safe in this window?
Low-impact, controlled, floor-based work that builds stability without stressing loose joints — gentle mobility, breath-led core, glute and hip stabilization. A supportive play mat is the surface for it: cushioned enough to be kind to unstable joints, firm enough to kneel on and push up from, and the same floor where you rest and nurse. Save high-impact return-to-sport for later, when the joints have retightened. This connects to the broader arc of postpartum hormone recovery, your diastasis and pelvic floor work, and what belongs on a recovery registry.
What can support recovery alongside movement?
Tissue repair is partly a nutrition story — collagen and targeted supplementation, the kind Juna formulates, can support the rebuilding (run anything past your provider while breastfeeding). And a postpartum recovery kit like Nurtured 9 bundles gentle pelvic and joint support for these early months. Neither replaces the slow, daily work of stabilizing movement — they sit alongside it.
Things you might be wondering
Does breastfeeding really keep my joints loose longer?
It can. The hormonal environment of lactation can keep relaxin's effects around longer, so some people notice joint laxity persisting until after weaning. It does resolve.
When can I run again postpartum?
Most guidance suggests waiting until at least 12 weeks and ideally after a pelvic floor PT assessment — loose joints and a recovering pelvic floor don't love high impact early. Build stability first.
Is clicking or shifting in my pelvis normal?
Often, yes, in the months after birth — but persistent pain, instability, or difficulty walking is worth a visit to a pelvic floor or pelvic-girdle PT.
Explore Wander & Roam play mats → — the supportive floor for gentle, joint-kind movement.
General information, not medical advice. Please work with your provider or a pelvic floor PT for guidance specific to your body.