Pregnancy and Chiropractic
More and more woman are realizing the benefit of taking care of their body not only nutritionally but physically during pregnancy. Included in that regimen is a trip to their neighborhood chiropractor.
Chiropractic has helped people with back pain, sciatic, and a variety of other issues for over a century. It is becoming more and more main stream to have a prenatal chiropractor throughout the term of pregnancy. Woman go to the chiropractor for many reasons; pubic bone pain (sharp pain in the front of the pelvis felt when walking or getting up from sitting.), tailbone pain, low back pain, sciatic, breech presentation, as well as overall wellness. Research has shown chiropractic to help not only mom feel better but with labor as well. Chiropractic has been shown to reduce labor time, decrease interventions needed such as forceps etc., as well as increase the ease of labor.
How exactly can a back doctor help with your pregnancy? Well there are two important structures within the pelvis that connect to the uterus as well. These are the uterosacral ligament and round ligament (Pictured below). If the sacrum (the large bone at the base of your spine) is misalignment that pulls on the uterosacral ligament which puts stress on the uterus. Then the round ligament pulls to counter act the uterosacral ligament putting additional strain on the uterus from the front of the body. If you can imagine, the uterus which should be symmetrical pear shaped is now asymmetrical and oblong. This reduces the space baby has to float and grow. There are many ways to make a chiropractic adjustment with pregnancy women the most commonly used technique is the Webster Technique. This uses a variety of tests to determine which side of the sacrum to adjust and which round ligament is tight. The chiropractor makes an adjustment to the sacrum and then finds a muscle knot in the round ligament and applies gentle pressure to that tight muscle. After routine adjustments the uterosacral and round ligament will be relaxed which will allow the uterus to return to a symmetrical shape giving baby lots of room to grow and float.
Where can you find a prenatal chiropractor in your area? You can start by searching “prenatal chiropractic” or go to www.icpa4kids.org
Have a Happy Healthy Weekend!
Dr. Carly