New parents never get the warning to watch out for injuries, like tweaking their back while carrying their toddler. Getty Images

Before you become a parent, you receive lots of well-meaning warnings. “You’ll be tired” or “you’ll be busy.”

The warning they forget: You’ll get injured.

Every parent I know has a tale of orthopedic woe — of tweaking her back when trying to carry toddlers, or breaking his foot while rushing to a crying child in the night, or simply straining their hands from nonstop scrubbing of baby bottles.

New mothers are particularly vulnerable because of the physical trauma associated with pregnancy and the caregiving burdens that tend to fall on them, including breastfeeding. But even minor nagging pains can bloom into years-long problems, in part because new parents

See Full Page