Pregnancy

Chiropractic Care and Pregnancy

• Restore balance and movement to your pelvic joints
• Comfortably adapt to the tremendous changes of pregnancy
• Keep your nervous system free of stress
• Experience a safer, easier birth

Pregnancy is a time of rapid physical change, for you as well as your baby. Pre-existing imbalances in your spine and pelvis that you’ve never noticed before can become overtaxed as the baby grows and your center of gravity shifts. These added pressures can make it hard to feel comfortable just getting through routine daily activities.

Gentle and safe chiropractic care throughout your pregnancy restores balance and movement to your pelvic joints, ligaments, and muscles and allows your body to adapt to the tremendous changes of pregnancy.

Keeping your nervous system free of stress and connecting with your breath and natural rhythms are also a tremendous aid in preparation for the birth process. Women receiving regular adjustments throughout pregnancy not only experience a more comfortable pregnancy, but routinely have a safer, easier birth with less complications for you and your baby.

All of our Doctors of Chiropractic are both trained and certified in the Webster Technique and members of the ICPA. The Webster Technique is designed to help prevent or alleviate breech presentation. Specific chiropractic adjustments align the pelvic structures and release pressure on the soft tissues, including the round ligament which reduce intra uterine constraint, creating space so the baby can move on its own into a head down position. The Webster Technique complements other methods that your doctor may perform to change the position of the baby.

You can have a Comfortable Pregnancy and Easy Delivery

Chiropractic care during pregnancy can provide benefits for women who are pregnant. We are Webster Certified and use the Webster Technique for pregnancy and Breech presentation

Potential benefits of chiropractic care during pregnancy include:

• Maintaining a healthier pregnancy
• Controlling symptoms of nausea
• Reducing the time of labor and delivery
• Relieving back, neck or joint pain
• Prevent a potential cesarean delivery

We Use the Webster Chiropractic Technique

The Webster technique, as defined by the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA), is a specific chiropractic analysis and adjustment that reduces interference to the nerve system and balances maternal pelvic muscles and ligaments.

This in turn reduces torsion in the uterus, a cause of intra-uterine constraint of the baby and allows for optimal fetal positioning in preparation for birth.

5 Benefits of Gentle BGI Chiropractic Care in Pregnancy

Reduced Nausea, and Headaches

Nausea, or morning sickness, is one of the most common pregnancy symptoms that can be highly uncomfortable and difficult to endure throughout your first trimester. A chiropractor can help reduce nausea and vomiting by realigning your spine and improving overall nervous system function. As a result, your hormones can achieve a healthier balance to eliminate or lessen the severity of your morning sickness. Headaches are common in the 1st and early second trimester because of the increase in blood volume (your blood volume doubles by 30 weeks!) , and the body needs to make more red blood cells. Adequate protein in the form of small portions- try a high-quality protein powder if you can't imagine eating bites of meat or eggs.

Gentle cranial adjustments and release of the reflex points in your upper neck and shoulder area can reduce the overreaction in the nervous system and allow your body to maintain equilibrium or balance and avoid motion sickness.

If you suspect your nausea is being triggered by heartburn or constipation, chiropractic care can also help improve digestive issues such as these to reduce your nausea.

Easier Labor and Delivery

A short labor and birthing process, without pain or complications, is far preferable to a painful and hours-long labor and delivery.

Getting regular chiropractic adjustments throughout your pregnancy can help ensure your pelvis, spine, and hips are properly aligned and that your nerves are in optimal working function. Your nerves are responsible for controlling your contractions and dilating your cervix during labor and delivery — meaning optimal nerve health can help you experience a faster labor and easier delivery, with less pain and discomfort.

Our methods are unique in that we focus on breathing, releasing the soft tissues in the front of the lower abdomen such as the psoas and the round ligaments as well as a focus on whole-body release and relaxation so you can get into the "zone" during birth and really trust in your bodies instincts and natural process. We love partnering with Doulas to support labor, and highly recommend finding one you love to work with is a non-medicated, or natural birth is your goal.

Women who want to experience natural childbirth with the use of fewer medications can benefit from chiropractic care during pregnancy to help simplify and improve the birthing experience.

View our list of Doulas & Partners HERE

Relief From Back Pain

Most women experience some form of back pain during pregnancy, you don't have to suffer through it!

Relief is possible and often correcting the alignment of your hips not only reduces your pain, it improves your bodies' ability to prepare for labor and postpartum recovery.

As your body prepares for labor and delivery, it produces a hormone called relaxin that relaxes and loosens all the ligaments and joints in your pelvic area. This may cause some to experience instability and pain in their spines as supporting ligaments become much looser and more fragile. Seeing a chiropractor for regular adjustments during pregnancy can help relieve back pain that stems from relaxed ligaments and joints due to the natural production of relaxin.

Back pain among pregnant women may also be caused by postural problems that occur due to a heavier belly. Some women may unintentionally curve their backs as their babies become heavier and larger, which can throw the spine out of alignment and trigger back pain. Adjustments can help correct posture and spinal curvature to keep back pain, leg pain, pubic bone pain, and rib pain at bay.

If you are having pelvic instability, this is the support belt that I recommend over many of the pregnancy-specific styles which are just too bulky and lacking in adequate support.

Optimal Baby Positioning

A baby who is not in the position to be delivered head first at the time of labor is known to be in breech position, which can lead to complications including a highly difficult vaginal delivery, cord prolapse, or C-section delivery.

Chiropractic care (including the Webster Technique) during pregnancy helps you maintain a healthy pelvic balance, so your baby has enough room to freely move head-first into the correct delivery position. Keep moving throughout your pregnancy and doing prenatal yoga - (this is my favorite download, from Spinning babies CLICK HERE)

By week 27-32 you want to be making sure you have regular weekly chiropractic adjustments to ensure the baby is head down BEFORE week 36 when the final checks are made by your birth provider, at that point you have a really short timeline to try to address the positioning, make regular chiropractic adjustments a priority to avoid breech presentation and benefit from optimal positioning.

Easier Recovery Postpartum

Gentle chiropractic care that addresses your whole spine, including the pelvis, soft tissues neck, and shoulders, takes advantage of the natural relaxin in your system during pregnancy to gently correct long-standing imbalances from the stresses of daily living that were or were not symptomatic before pregnancy.

The postnatal period is SUCH a challenge on the whole body, mind, and spirit!

It is a huge learning curve, and you are totally focused on the needs of your baby so will sacrifice your posture, sleep, and eating to take care of your bundle of joy. This often leads to pain, muscle spasms, and nerve irritation. Getting the tension levels under control and your spinal system balanced during pregnancy allows the body to adapt to these rapid changes with greater ease and less pain.

Postnatal adjustments and core exercises to re-engage the pelvis are also essential! but with a great foundation of prenatal chiropractic care. you will get optimal results and can be with your baby with more ease and joy!