Pregnancy and Perinatal Chiropractic
Chiropractic care can be beneficial during all stages: before, during, and after pregnancy.
Before Pregnancy: A baby cannot thrive in a hostile environment. Chiropractic may help:
- Reduce overall tension, pain, and stress
- Improve the nervous system flow and nourishment to the back muscles, pelvic muscles, and reproductive organs
- Properly align and unlock the pelvis to welcome the baby
- Removes torsion of the ligaments that support the uterus thus potentially reducing aberrant tension to the woman’s uterus
During Pregnancy: The body is going through a tremendous amount of structural and hormonal changes, which can lead to increased stress and tension for both mom and baby. Chiropractic may help:
- Improve nervous system flow to mom and baby, allowing for the mom to better adapt to the changes, and for better development of the baby
- Reduce muscle imbalances and localized inflammation to remove or decrease conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome and sciatica
- Improve lymphatic system functions optimally for improved immune system function
- Decrease the potential for unnecessary intervention
After Pregnancy: Whether labor was difficult or uncomplicated, the mother’s body has gone through an amazing amount of work and stress. The mother’s ligaments continue to be lax due to hormones, and she begins to lose her “baby weight” and regain her previous posture and center of gravity. These are all major adjustments to the mother’s body and now she is responsible for taking care of her infant. Chiropractic may help:
- Speed post-partum recovery time
- Restore pelvis biomechanics and comfort
- Improve brain to body communication, especially for optimal breast-feeding function
- Decrease back and neck pain related to breastfeeding, lifting and carrying your baby
- Alleviate post-partum depression
- Balance hormones (after birth, hormones drop off rather quickly and go back to pre-pregnancy baseline, causing hormonal symptoms; hence the post-partum depression)
In a study published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT) in 2009, Miller et al. reported on a clinical case series of 114 patients with “sub-optimal infant breast-feeding” at ages 12 weeks and younger.6 The babies had all been seen by multiple practitioners, including midwives, pediatricians, lactation consultants and others, as well as the doctor of chiropractic for their feeding issues. Of the 114 babies in the case series, 89 (78 percent) were exclusively breast-fed after four chiropractic treatments.
Click here to learn more about chiropractic care for before, during and after pregnancy, and to schedule an appointment today!