Chiropractic and Pregnancy
Delivery assistance, natural birthing, drug-free birthing, low back pain, sciatic pain or pain down the leg, baby in breach position, balance and coordination, hormonal balance.
Thousands of pregnant women around Australia are turning to safe and effective Chiropractic care to improve their pregnancy and deliver a healthy baby naturally.
Pregnancy is one of the most beautiful natural processes to be involved with. To me, pregnant women do seem to “shine”. I love adjusting and aiding pregnant women, not only so that they can be more comfortable during the pregnancy but also so that the baby is delivered healthy and naturally without intervention.
Some mothers have concerns about being adjusted when pregnant. Is it dangerous? Will it hurt? Is it safe for the baby? Chiropractic care is actually one of the safest forms of healing available. Literally thousands of women around the world have been adjusted all through their pregnancy, and some even at the birth itself, and suffered no ill effects. In fact, in some cases their labour times were reduced by up to 33%!
If you are pregnant you should consider adding a Chiropractor to your health care team. Here at Health In The Bay we will always give the best care and advice possible so that your baby will be born with the absolute minimum of intervention. We are strong believers in holistic, natural birthing.
How Does Chiropractic Help Pregnancy?
In order to answer I’ll need to explain a little bit about how the body works. Your body is controlled through your brain and nervous system. Running down your spine is the spinal cord and branching off at each vertebra is a spinal nerve. These nerves then branch repeatedly and control almost every cell in your whole body. This is called your nervous system.
We live our lives through the function of the nervous system. The nervous system guides all of the processes in your body. This is especially vital for pregnant women. All of the delicate processes that occur within a mother’s body are guided by the nervous system. All of the five senses, the development of their brains, learning, growing, immunity and digestion are all controlled by the nervous system. So does it make sense to you that if you have any kind of nervous system interference then this is likely affecting some aspect of your life and pregnancy? Here’s where Chiropractic care and pregnancy fits in.
Chiropractic by its own definition works on improving the function of the nervous system. When a Chiropractor adjusts you he is looking for one thing: Subluxation. But what is a Subluxation? A Subluxation is a point in the spine where overwhelming lifestyle stress has created “stuck” vertebrae. These vertebrae then impact on the nervous system creating nervous system interference. The longer the nervous system interference is present and the more nervous system interference your baby has then the worse the effects will be.
It is also important to note that you can have Subluxation and not exhibit any problems initially. Sometimes it can take years before the nervous system interference creates problems.
If your problems or conditions are being caused by Subluxation and the nervous system interference created by that, then Chiropractic can help you!
How Can I Tell If I Need Chiropractic?
There are a few simple things you can check at home that can help you to see if you have Subluxation and are experiencing nervous system interference:
1. History: If you have a history of any of the following then there is a good chance that you have Subluxation:
- Sedentary lifestyle: you spend more than 6 hours a day sitting
- Back injuries
- Falls or accidents
- Motor vehicle accidents: whether as a passenger, driver, cyclist or pedestrian
- Excessive weight (baby not included!)
- Poor diet
- Exposure to a lot of pollution
- Exposure to chemicals: cleaning products or work related chemicals
- Smoking
- Excessive alcohol intake: either regularly or binging
- Family problems
- Stress levels high for a long period of time.
Because Subluxation is created by all the different lifestyle stresses in your life then any of the above could have created nervous system interference.
2. Observation: There are several key behaviours that can indicate that you have Subluxation. Check out the following list:
- Sleeping poorly
- Low energy and lethargy
- Hot flushes
- Protective postures: to protect old injuries and areas of Subluxation
- Irritability and grumpiness
- Inability to go barefoot for long periods of time: i.e. > 3hours
- limping
- Like to sleep with a fan or music on every night
- Frequent fidgeting or inability to stay still at important events
- Postural hypotension: you get dizzy when you stand too fast
- Any early signs of depression, anxiety, dementia, Alzheimer’s or any other degenerative brain conditions.
Subluxation interferes with the way you interact with the environment. Each of the five senses is directly controlled through the nervous system. Any of the above signs could indicate nervous system dysfunction and Subluxation.
3. Posture: Posture is a simple way of easily checking if you have Nervous System interference. Just follow the simple instructions below to check it out:
- Stand straight and relaxed in front of a full length mirror with your arms hanging by your sides and your feet slightly apart.
- Observe the level of your ears, particularly the ear lobes. Look for one ear lobe being higher than the other.
- Next, find the bony bump near the tip of the shoulder. This bump is the AC joint and is at the end of the collar bone. With your hands hanging loosely by your side check your AC joints and observe their level. Note down if one side is higher than the other.
- Lastly, find the tops of your hip blades. Place your hands flat against the top of the hip blades and observe for any change in height between the two.
By checking these three points you can see if your posture is out. If you found any difference then this is a sign that you have Subluxation.
What Will Happen When I Come In?
At Health In The Bay we take a very comprehensive and integrative approach to care of pregnant women.
- Firstly, we take a comprehensive history. It is important that we get as much information about you and your pregnancy as possible before we begin taking care of you. You will be required to fill out our comprehensive health survey and answer any questions the chiropractor may have to fill in the details.
- Next, we do a comprehensive exam. The exam is tailored to you but may include: posture, balance, reflexes, muscle testing, cranial structure examination, neurological assessment, and other nervous system assessments.
- No X-rays will be required for pregnant women.
- On the second visit, the chiropractor will report to you what is going on and outline a care program.
- The first adjustment is given and the chiropractor will follow up via phone to see how you responded.
- The Care program is followed as closely as possible with frequent reviews to ensure that the underlying cause is being addressed.