Chiropractic care is suitable for a wide range of patients seeking optimal wellness and pain relief. This includes expectant mothers.
In fact, mothers who receive regular chiropractic care throughout their pregnancies, report less discomfort as their body changes and grows, as well as easier labor, delivery and postpartum experiences. There are many reasons for this.
Easier Pregnancies
During pregnancy, an expectant mother’s rapidly changing body shape and forward weight gain, as well as her shift in center of gravity, means her posture has to change to maintain balance. This can affect the way she stands, sits, sleeps and carries objects such as purses, grocery bags, and other children. Eventually, this can cause musculoskeletal misalignments that lead to back pain.
Often accepted as “part of the process,” many expectant mothers endure excruciating lower back pain and sciatica throughout their pregnancies and beyond.
In addition increased hormones, which are just doing their job preparing the body for labor and delivery, increase laxity in the pelvic region creating instability and possible spinal subluxations with regular movement. These misalignments in vertebra create pressure on nerves or cause other nerve interference, that equals lower back pain. When nerves become involved, the overall functioning of the body can be negatively affected.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Chiropractic care for pregnancy can restore body alignment and allow for better neurologic function, joint movement and balance in the pelvic region, which can greatly reduce or eliminate pain.
Easier Labor and Delivery
Regular chiropractic care during pregnancy has been shown to make the labor and delivery process easier, and can actually assist the mother hoping for a natural birth. Spinal and pelvic misalignments can create restrictions in the birth canal, and lead to a more difficult labor. When this happens, mothers may be more likely to lean on medications or other assistance to get baby out.
A properly aligned spine and relaxed pelvic region allows the baby to sit unrestricted in the uterus, and shift into the right positions during the pregnancy. Baby can then be delivered without any extra obstruction or force than necessary, often making the process less traumatic for everyone involved.
While there is absolutely a time when C-sections and assisted births are medically necessary, the odds of a natural delivery increase dramatically when the expectant mother has received regular chiropractic.
Safe and Drug-Free
Chiropractic is a safe and drug-free way to treat lower back pain, sciatica and other discomforts common in pregnancy.
While you may associate the practice with aggressive spinal adjustments, prenatal chiropractic focuses on muscular assessment, postural analysis, bilateral weight testing, and other non-invasive evaluations to identify structural deficiencies and misalignments. With specific equipment and these gentle techniques, chiropractors help pregnant mothers be proactive about caring for their bodies — and their babies — prior to delivery, and decrease pain throughout the entire experience.
As with other prenatal care, the earlier in the pregnancy that you begin chiropractic care the better, because it allows the chiropractor to better monitor and address structural changes, deficiencies, and misalignments in the body.
If you’re expecting, or hoping to be someday, talk to us about how chiropractic can be an important part of your wellness plan.
