Adjusting pregnant mothers and their children is incredibly inspiring for me. Children truly are our future, and I believe that lifelong wellness care begins in the womb. Taking care of your body and developing a positive self-care relationship are exponentially valuable the earlier in life they begin.
Chiropractic care offered during pregnancy benefits mama and baby. Prenatal adjustments support your baby’s optimal development while allowing you to experience a naturally aligned pelvis. I also notice that well-adjusted mothers feel a greater sense of physical and heartfelt connection with the pregnancy process and their newborns-to-come.
I am thrilled to provide comprehensive specialty care for women in any stage of pregnancy. From week 1 to 42, women find that getting adjusted can not only relieve many of the aches and pains involved in pregnancy, but can also create shorter and easier labors and births, as well as a more comfortable post-partum experience. Our office has specialized cushions that allow a pregnant woman to lie face down with ease and comfort.
Give yourself and your baby the opportunity for a more comfortable pregnancy and a safer, easier birth.
Common results from chiropractic care during pregnancy:
- Increased overall comfort.
- Feeling that there is “more room” inside the belly and ribcage.
- Decreased or eliminated sciatica symptoms.
- Decreased headaches, joint aches, and wrist/ankle pain.
- Decreased feeling of instability and pain in the pelvis and pubic bone.
- Better and deeper sleep.
- Decreased nausea/morning sickness.
- Decreased anxiety about the birth and post-partum period.
- Feeling of being more connected to the baby.
On initial visits we conduct a personally tailored analysis and explore adjustments that address your special needs in pregnancy, as you can request working with your chiropractor. Your, and your baby’s, continued safety and comfort are primary.
Add comfort to your pregnancy.
Chiropractic care is an essential element of prenatal care. A high percentage of pregnant women experience back discomfort or pain during pregnancy. This is due to the rapid growth of the baby and to an interference with your body’s normal structural adaptations to that growth.
Preexisting, unnoticed imbalances in your spine and pelvis are exaggerated during pregnancy. These added stresses lead to discomfort and difficulty in performing routine activities. Chiropractic care throughout pregnancy can relieve and even prevent these common discomforts. Specific adjustments eliminate these stresses in your spine, restore balance to your pelvis, and result in improved comfort and lifestyle ease.
Comfort for your baby, too.
As your baby develops, your uterus enlarges to accommodate the rapid growth. So long as the pelvis is in a balanced state, the ligaments connected to the uterus maintain an equalized, supportive suspension. But if your pelvis is out of balance in any way, these ligaments become torqued and twisted, causing a condition called in utero constraint. This constraint limits the space of the developing baby. Any compromised position for the baby throughout pregnancy will affect his or her optimal development. Conditions such as torticollis occur because a baby’s space was cramped in utero.
If the woman’s uterus is constrained as birth approaches, the baby is prevented from getting into the best possible position for birth. Even if the baby is in the desirable head-down position, constraint to the uterus often prevents the baby’s head from moving into the ideal presentation for delivery. The head may be slightly tilted to one side or, even more traumatically, present in the posterior position. Any baby position even slightly off during birth will slow down labor, and create pain for both mother and baby. Many women have been told that their babies were too big, or labor “just slowed down” when it was actually the baby’s presentation that interfered with the normal process and progression. Avoidable interventions are often implemented, turning a natural process into an operative one.
During pregnancy, chiropractors work specifically with the changes in your body—especially in the pelvic area—to restore a state of balance and create an environment for an easier, safer delivery.
Preparing for a Safer Birth
Dystocia, or difficult labor, is something every woman wants to avoid. Published studies indicate that chiropractic care does in fact reduce labor time.
In addition to the pain and exhaustion caused by long, difficult labor, dystocia leads to multiple medical interventions that may be physically and emotionally traumatic to both you and your baby.
Some of these interventions include:
- Administering of pitocin
- Use of epidurals
- Painful episiotomies
- Forceful pulling on the baby’s fragile spine
- Vacuum extraction
- Use of forceps
- C-sections
Each of these procedures carries a high risk of injury to you, your baby, or both of you! All of these procedures, used to hasten the delivery process, can be avoided if delivery begins more smoothly.
Obstetric texts report that pelvic imbalance and the resulting effects on your uterus and your baby’s position cause dystocia. Chiropractic care throughout pregnancy restores balance to your pelvic muscles and ligaments and leads to a safer and easier delivery for you and your baby. Additionally, the chiropractic adjustment removes interference to the nervous system, allowing your uterus to function at its maximum potential.
Webster Breech Turning Technique
Babies are expected to turn head down by about 33 weeks. This time frame varies from baby to baby, but if the baby is not head down by about 34 or 35 weeks, it indicates there is some challenge to the baby’s movement. This ranges from the most common reason of intrauterine constraint to the baby’s umbilical cord being wrapped around its body or neck. In addition, misalignment or tension in the pelvis causes the tightening and torsion of specific pelvic muscles and ligaments.
I am certified in the Webster Technique for turning breech or transverse babies. The Webster Technique is a specific chiropractic analysis and adjustment that reduces interference to the nervous system and balances maternal pelvic muscles and ligaments. This in turn reduces torsion in the uterus, a cause of intra-uterine constraint for the baby, and allows for optimal fetal positioning in preparation for birth.
This technique is very successful in assisting breech babies into the head down position.
Dr. Tracey Wright, D.C.’s website link: www.livitycafeoflife.com
