Sep 13, 20193 min read

Chiropractic During Pregnancy

Did you know that Chiropractic is a safe and effective treatment for many different musculoskeletal complaints felt during pregnancy including sciatica, low back pain, hip pain, pelvic pain, round ligament pain and much more!

However, did you know that Chiropractic care during pregnancy is so much more than just to ease aches and pains? Chiropractic during pregnancy is vital to the normal physiological function of both the mother and baby throughout pregnancy and birth. Pregnancy is such a special experience that should be enjoyed throughout the entire process. There are many hormonal and physical changes happening during pregnancy. Some of these changes have an impact on your posture as well as your comfort. As your baby grows and becomes heavier, your center of gravity shifts, and your posture adjusts accordingly. These changes place extra stress on different areas of your body that aren’t accustomed to this stress. These physical changes cause a misaligned spine or joints. This leads to some of the most common symptoms we see in our office including but not limited to low back pain, hip pain, pelvic pain, round ligament pain, mid back pain, neck pain, and headaches. Other uncomfortable changes during pregnancy might include:

-a protruding abdomen resulting in an increased curve of your back

-changes to your pelvis as your body begins to prepare for labor

-adaptations to your posture

How can Chiropractic Care Help?

Regular visits to a chiropractor during your pregnancy can address the issues stated above.

Adjustments are designed to re-establish balance and alignment to your pelvis and spine which will do more than just make you feel better. Chiropractic care can be beneficial for your baby, too. Establishing pelvic balance and alignment is another reason to obtain chiropractic care during pregnancy. A pelvis that is misaligned or not moving as it should be can restrict the amount of space available to your developing baby. When an external force obstructs your growing baby’s normal movements, it’s known as intrauterine constraint which can lead to birth defects. Another complication that a misaligned pelvis may pose relates to delivery. When the pelvis is out of alignment, it can make it hard for your baby to move into the best possible position for delivery, which is rear-facing, head down. In some cases, this could affect a woman’s ability to have a natural and noninvasive birth. Having a balanced pelvis means your baby has optimal room to move and a lower chance of moving into a breech or posterior position. When your baby is not in the most optimal birthing position, it can lead to a longer, more complicated delivery which can include interference that may be unnecessary. Due to this, regular chiropractic care has been shown to reduce the length of time you’re in labor. The goal of Chiropractic during pregnancy

The goal is to counteract the stressful forces and imbalances occurring and to maintain proper motion and function in the body during pregnancies to help relieve discomfort, establish pelvic balance and alignment, and maintain normal physiological function throughout pregnancy. So what are some of the things we can help you with? Reduce Low Back Pain, Sciatica, Hip Pain, Pelvic Pain and Round Ligament Pain: We have special tables and pillows that allows moms to lay on their stomach while we do all the work. Gentle adjustments and soft tissue techniques are used to make sure joints of the pelvis, sacrum, and lumbar spine are moving properly in order to relieve tension of attaching muscles an d ligaments supporting the growing baby (i.e the Pelvic floor muscles, Piriformis, and Round Ligament) and maintain pelvic balance and alignment. Mothers also love when we incorporate Kinesiotape to support the weight of the belly to take tension off of the round ligament. Reduce Labor time, and Reduce Back Labor: Regular chiropractic adjustments throughout pregnancy helps make sure the pelvis and sacrum stays aligned. Labor becomes much more difficult when the pelvis and sacrum are not aligned and the pelvic floor becomes taut/tight as this limits the amount of space the baby has and the amount of force the baby needs to push through to enter the canal. Reduce opportunity for Breech Positioning: Our goal with adjustments and soft tissue work as described above is to make sure baby has enough room to do what it needs to do. If there is not proper pelvic balance and alignment then there is less than optimal space for baby to move and get into proper position prior to labor and delivery. Regular chiropractic adjustments ensure that there is enough space for baby to be able to flip and get into proper position when the time comes