While most of you are aware of the benefits of Chiropractic care in day-to-day life, some are shocked to learn how beneficial adjustments can be for pregnant mamas. You might be wondering, ‘Is chiropractic care safe during pregnancy?
The answer is ‘Yes’ - it is completely safe to receive care from a Chiropractor who is trained in techniques specific to pregnant women. Here’s what you need to know about the importance of prenatal chiropractic care and how it can help ease labor.
Importance of Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a unique time in a woman’s life filled with new experiences, excitement, mixed emotions, and some physical changes. Sometimes these changes can have an effect on the outcome of birth and create a possibility for interventions and/or a deviation from a woman’s original birth plan.
That’s where chiropractic care comes in. While it is true that adjustments can help reduce some common pregnancy symptoms and help women benefit from healthier and happier pregnancies, prenatal Chiropractic care is highly recommended by doulas, midwives, ObGyns, and other birth providers. Visiting a Chiropractor can help you sail through this period smoothly, safely, and comfortably.
Webster Technique, a technique only certified Chiropractors can perform, is specifically used for pregnant women. Its protocols ensure your baby has optimal space in the pelvis and enough room to move around, which helps avoid breech presentation during pregnancy and birth. The technique involves gentle adjustments to the sacrum and soft tissue work around the round ligament, which is located on each side of the abdomen and attaches to the uterus. Relieving tension along the round ligament can keep your body in balance and prevent unnecessary pain throughout your pregnancy, labor, and delivery.
Benefits of Chiropractic Adjustment for Pregnant Mothers
Chiropractic care is gentle, safe, and effective during pregnancy. Not only does it manage discomfort, ligament instability, and pain, but it can also establish pelvic balance. It provides your baby optimal space in the pelvis which may result in a faster and easier labor and birth.
Take a look at some of the benefits of chiropractic care during pregnancy:
1. Relief from nausea and digestive discomfort
Improving nervous system function with Chiropractic adjustments helps improve the function of all our systems, including reproductive health, respiratory system, and digestion.
2. Relief from back pain
Back pain is the most common issue among pregnant women. One of the reasons is due to the increased levels of relaxin hormone in the body, causing hypermobility, in preparation for birth. Chiropractic adjustments to the pelvis and sacrum can relieve back pain by restoring balance to the body.
3. Proper pelvic balance and optimal positioning for baby
If the pelvis is misaligned, your baby’s natural movement could be restricted. This can be one of the causes of dystocia, according to William’s Obstetrics, and why your baby’s position is critical to the whole process. Chiropractic care helps correct the misaligned pelvic, providing optimal space for your baby and helping them get in the best position for birth.
It is important to note that there are multiple presentations in which a baby can be birthed vaginally, the most traditional position (preferred by medical providers) for a baby to be born via vaginal birth is head down and occiput anterior (OA). However, it is important to recognize that babies can come into the world in an occiput posterior (OP, “sunny side up”) position and a woman is also able to birth a baby in a hospital setting as a breech presentation. While this is not the norm, it is important to recognize that these are all physiological presentations of birth and depending on where you choose to birth (home vs birth center vs hospital), this is a conversation to have with your provider and birth team on risk/benefits of any of these presentations.
4. Healthier pregnancy
Chiropractic adjustments will help improve overall health for both you and your baby and also reduce unwanted symptoms so that you can experience a safer, more comfortable pregnancy and a better recovery in the postpartum period.
Pregnancy is a season of change - emotionally and physically - but there’s no reason to be uncomfortable throughout it. With chiropractic care, it is easier to enjoy safer, faster, and easier labor and birth. It’s essential to ensure that a woman feels safe and as comfortable as possible during labor, and chiropractic care is the most natural way to achieve that.
As a Webster Certified Chiropractor, I’m dedicated to making your pregnancy journey as seamless and beautiful as it deserves to be. I am here to advocate, educate, and help families THRIVE. I am always more than happy to answer questions and clarify. I hope that by being transparent, I can continue to serve my Thriving families and build trust with them.
At Thrive Family Chiropractic, you can expect to feel heard, respected, and safe. My goal is to support you as you THRIVE by bringing balance to your body, and allowing you to express your full potential.
For more information visit www.icpa4kids.org to learn more about how Dr. Padilla can help you during and after pregnancy and find resources on Chiropractic care.
Thrive Family Chiropractic, LLC was founded by Dr. Padilla in the fall of 2017 with the idea that Chiropractic care should be convenient and accessible to all, with a focus on facilitating care for families, women during pregnancy and children. Throughout her years of practice, Dr. Padilla has seen how challenging it can be for families to incorporate Chiropractic into their lifestyles and make it a priority rather than a luxury. With this thought in mind, Dr. Padilla wants to provide the best, most personalized and individualized Chiropractic care to women during pregnancy and to children of all ages, to help improve their lifestyle, prevent chronic illness and allow them to express their full potential in life, sports, school.
Call (904) 437-4546today for a complimentary consultation and to schedule an appointment in office or at home!