Can I Have Chiropractic Care When I’m Pregnant?
Many of our clients who have been seeing us for years to keep their bodies healthy are going through a huge change in the form of a pregnancy. This is very exciting for a lot of our clients and for our practitioners.
We’ve worked extensively with pregnant ladies over the past five years but not as much as we have been now. Since Dr. Michelle Parker (Doctor of Chiropractic) has been fully trained in pregnancy care, we have been inundated with requests and inquiries to help with pregnancy-related issues.
What happens to the back during pregnancy?
Nine months is a long time and going through a pregnancy is extremely hard. I cannot speak from personal experience obviously, only second-hand watching Charlotte (my wife) go through two. It’s very hard to sit and watch and feel helpless a lot of the time. Not as hard as what the ladies have to go through, you are all incredible.
From a physiological point of view, the body goes through enormous amounts of change. It takes a huge amount of energy and structurally it puts a lot of stress on the pelvis and the lower back.
Your body will release a hormone called relaxin in the latter stages of pregnancy to get the pelvis relaxed and open up the pelvic inlet to allow the baby to go through the birth canal. This is great because it allows room for the baby to come through. But it’s also going to cause problems with pelvic movement and stability.
The pelvis is made up of three bones. You have two ilia on the sides and a sacrum bone in the middle.
It’s joined in the front by the pubic symphysis and joined at the back by two joints called the sacroiliac joints. Spanning these are lots of strong ligaments and relaxin is going to make these ligaments much looser. The pelvis moves around a lot more, creates a lot of instability in the body and this can create something called pubic symphysis disorder.
It also creates instability in the lower part of the back which can create lower back pain coupled with the fact that there’s probably an extra 10 to 20 pounds of amniotic fluid and the baby’s weight. It puts a lot of pressure on the body and the fact that the bump is so far forwards, it causes increase in the lordosis of the spine thus putting more pressure in the back.
The hip flexors tend to get very tight in front of the hips and the back of pelvis will take up more stress.
What do we do as Chiropractors during pregnancy?
Chiropractic care is very different to someone who is not pregnant and that the main thing is it’s much gentler. We use a pregnancy cushion so our clients can lie flat on their tummy and take the weight off your back.
We do adjust the top of the spine in the neck and upper back. We generally don’t lie pregnant ladies on their side and adjust them, it’s just uncomfortable and too much torsion through the bump. We use a lot of blocking techniques to get the pelvis back into a good position to aid stability and take pressure off the spine when sleeping.
Then we do a lot of work around the bump itself, working on something called the round ligament to help stabilise the uterus and get the pelvis in the best position for labour.
We use something called Webster technique, which again optimises the baby for optimal delivery in order to help with the labour process. Webster technique is a very popular Chiropractic technique used in pregnancy.
Is Chiropractic care safe during pregnancy?
Yes, it is. As mentioned, the only thing you would NOT do is lie on your side to adjust the lower back and we often don’t use acupuncture. It is safe and gentle and can provide great results for pregnancy-related pain.
How often should you get a Chiropractic adjustment when pregnant?
Very often at the start, we see women who are in a lot of pain and really struggle. We see them more frequently at the start of the program. Generally, once, or twice a week for the first few weeks and then dropping the frequency down once the symptoms stabilise. Then increase the intensity as we get closer to the birth date.
It’s individual though and will depend on where you’re at and what your current situation is. If you’re not in much discomfort, then less frequency. But it’s all about optimising your body for the best pregnancy experience that you can have and the best labour.
When should you start getting Chiropractic care during pregnancy?
Not a lot of pregnant women know that a Chiropractor can help with pregnancy-related pain. We don’t see them until late on in the pregnancy when they have tried a lot of practitioners before seeking Chiropractic help. The second time around for baby number two, we get to see women very early on. As soon as they find out they’re pregnant, we start adjusting them on a more regular basis as we take them through the whole nine-month journey and post-partum is very important as well.
If you do know someone who is struggling with pregnancy-related pain, please send them our details. You can send them this blog and they can request a free copy of our book which has pregnancy related exercises in it as well. Click here for FREE book.
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