Husband and wife invent pregnancy girdle to ease wife's pain

The girdle could help the one-in-five pregnant women who suffer the problem. Photo / 123RF

It is a breakthrough which could help thousands of women who suffer agony during pregnancy every year.

The solution could be on offer thanks to one mother who knows exactly how terrible pelvic girdle pain can be, reported the Daily Mail.

Ruth Roberts, 41, was confined to a wheelchair and felt like she was being "stabbed repeatedly" while expecting her fourth child.

With the aid of her husband Dafydd, she invented a girdle which supports the weight of the bump while holding the hips in a comfortable position.

It is adjustable and made from breathable, latex-free material which can be worn above or beneath clothing.

Mrs Roberts, of Pentrefoelas, Clwyd, North Wales, had severe symptoms while expecting Harri, now four. Maternity belts, which run under the bump and round the back, physiotherapy or medication did not help.

"I was in constant pain," she said. "It affected me mentally as well as physically. It's like you're being stabbed repeatedly and this shooting pain spreads everywhere until you can't do anything."

Her husband, 41, started using materials at his clothing business to make a girdle to try to help.

Mrs Roberts, who has three children from a previous relationship, Nathan, 22, Aimee, 20, and James, 16, said: "He would bring something home every day and it went from there.

"By the time I was seven-and-a-half months pregnant, the prototype came in."

The girdle, which could help the one-in-five pregnant women who suffer the problem, has featured in a major NHS research project and clinical trial in Wales.