[Jean-Paul]

My wife had severe hip pain during pregnancy all three times. It was so severe that it did put her on the floor, and she was in tears. Each time just one general hip soft tissue release resolved the problem.

It is actually really common while pregnant or shortly after birth. Besides the fact that they find themselves sitting a lot more in that last trimester, their bodies are also not their normal selves, and the awkward weight distribution affects their posture. Add to that the fact that their hormones are out of whack and you have a perfect storm for hip problems to occur.

The injury could have also started years ago, and was sped along by the pregnancy. As Bill likes to point out, our bodies were not really designed to sit, and that is what most of us do most of the time, which leads to what he calls "gluteal amnesia" (I love that term, and I use it all the time). It's not just a case of atrophy... It's a case of the glutes not firing at all, and other muscles trying to pick up the slack.

I'm not a physical therapist or orthopod, so when you read my advice keep that in mind.

First thing I would do is get it checked to make sure nothing tore, especially the ligaments in the hip. She's looking at hip replacement if that is the case, and the sooner you can establish this is or isn't the case the better.

She may just need a few session with a good ART person to alleviate the pain. That will only fix her current problem though, which is a symptom, and if she doesn't address the cause of the problem it will just keep coming back.

Just guessing wildly since I don't have much info, the fact that she has had knee problems in the past tells me that she problably has some lower leg, ankle, or foot weakness, and was probably an early warning of her future hip problems.