At Beginnings Birth Center, we often refer our clients to chiropractic care as a method to help musculoskeletal system issues that are very common during pregnancy and after. This form of care can do wonders for pregnant women. A woman’s body goes through several changes from the moment of conception. Some of those changes can cause severe discomfort and many women find it difficult to obtain relief. Chiropractic care is a natural and drug-free approach to a happier and healthier pregnancy. No matter what stage you are in during your pregnancy, there are many benefits to chiropractic care.

Recent Studies Have Shown that Chiropractic Care:

• Reduces pregnant women’s back pain by 84%. With an adjustment, joint dysfunctions can be located and restored to further improve nerve communication throughout the body.
  
• Reduces first-time labor and delivery times by 34%. Second and/or third pregnancies reduced by 39%. Proper alignment allows labor to progress more easily.
  
• Decreases possibilities of improper positioning of the baby (see below).
  
• Enhances a healthy pregnancy. Chiropractic care removes obstructions to the nerves within the spinal cord, allowing the brain and body to communicate more efficiently. This supports a healthy immune system for mom and baby.
• Controls symptoms of nausea. Sometimes symptoms of “morning” sickness could be partly due to pinched nerves from vertebrae that are out of alignment. In this case, an alignment can be a helpful therapy to try.
  

Chiropractic Care to Help Baby’s Position

We will almost always recommend seeing a chiropractor as early in your pregnancy as you can. When your body, including your pelvis, remains well-aligned throughout pregnancy, there is a much lower chance that your baby will get in a position other than head-down late in pregnancy. If your baby is not head-down by later in your pregnancy, we will strongly encourage chiropractic care to continue, become more frequent, or start if you hadn’t already. The Webster Technique can be used during chiropractic care to align the pelvis and pelvic ligaments to allow baby to optimize its position. This technique is effective to get a baby to a head-down position in around 60-80% of cases. The Webster Technique also helps babies that are already head-down into a position that is ideal for helping labor start and progress in the most efficient way. As with any preventative measure, the earlier chiropractic care can be started, the more likely it is to help with baby’s position.

Webster Technique Video
Belly Mapping to help determine at home how your baby is positioned by Mama Natural with techniques developed by Gail Tully of Spinning Babies
Spinning Babies – a great resource for getting babies optimally positioned

Benefits of Chiropractic Care Postpartum

Once the birth is over, your body may be in need of a realignment. Chiropractic can ensure your body is functioning properly, further enhancing the postpartum healing process. Within the first few months of having a newborn, some women develop posture problems from feeding, caring for, and carrying their babies. Chiropractic can help with that as well and ease accompanying back pain.
Some parents find it is also beneficial for their baby to be adjusted by a chiropractor after birth. Reports of baby feeding better and being able to poop and pass gas more easily after a post-birth adjustment abound. For more information and to find a certified pediatric chiropractor – see the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA) website.