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Zo? Foster Blake opens up about 'chronic pain' during first pregnancy: 'I couldn't walk'

By Nikolina Koevska Kharoufeh |

Mum-of-two Zo? Foster Blake has opened up about her painful pregnancy journey with her first-born Sonny.

The writer and founder of Go-To Skincare revealed on an episode of Australian Birth Stories, that by her third trimester she was experiencing such chronic pain that she was unable to walk without crutches.

"I'd get shooting pain down my abductors," she revealed on the podcast. "By about 25 weeks, it got to the point where I couldn't walk. I was really bad. And by 32 weeks I was in chronic pain."

After months of agony and misdiagnosis, Foster-Blake's osteopath finally identified the issue as osteitis pubis - a fracture and inflammation of the pubic symphysis and surrounding muscle - offering her treatment and relief.

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She says finally figuring out what was wrong helped her avoid the same issue in her second pregnancy, and encourages women to always seek help if they experience any pain during pregnancy.

Blake shared an unseen picture of her pregnant with her second Rudy. (Instagram)

Blake candidly spoke about her struggles during her first pregnancy in the podcast, admitting her move away from Sydney to Melbourne for her husband Hamish Blake host of Lego Masters, made it a "particularly lonely time in her life".

During her first trimester, Blake suffered from persistent nausea but once that subsided she was then met with a much worse symptom.

She found herself becoming immobile during the second trimester due to increasing lower back and pelvic pain.

"I had increasing pain around my groin and lower back and a lot of people thought it was Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD) but despite a few treatments and exercises, it was getting worse", she revealed.

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Blake says it was a really tough time and tried her best to power through the pain, "I presumed it would be fixed after birth but I was six weeks postpartum and still couldn't walk".

"It was horrible I was very pregnant, very puffy and swollen, very stressed and on crutches trying to get around in a lot of pain", she admits.

It was only when a friend of a friend recommended an osteopath that she way finally given a diagnosis of Osteitis Pubis and the help she needed to heal.

"She fixed me! She offered me treatment and relief as well as support and long-term aid and along with a very strict pilates regime I managed to avoid the same issue in my second pregnancy", Blake told Australian Birth Stories.

And if the chronic pain wasn't bad enough, she was also diagnosed with gestational diabetes - a condition that causes high blood sugar that can affect pregnancy and a baby's health.

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Something she says was a pain but also had its positives.

"It did lead me to be a much healthier person", Blake continued. "I wasn't feeding my body properly and I wasn't exercising because I couldn't. It helped me a lot to get back into a healthy style of eating."

Blake also shared a throwback photo of herself while pregnant with Rudy, sharing all the things she wish she'd known before becoming a mother.

Luckily her second pregnancy with daughter Rudy went a lot smoother.

Crediting her regular pilates workouts and osteopath treatments, Blake never developed pubic pain and wasn't diagnosed with gestational diabetes.

She says Rudy who is now four, came out smiling and ready for the world.

Watch an excerpt of the interview above.

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