Chiropractic Services
Chiropractic & Pregnancy
Pregnancy can cause changes in the musculo-skeletal system. Your chiropractor is able to detect and correct these changes.
Chiropractic treatment and pregnant women
Pregnancy can cause changes in the musculo-skeletal system. Your chiropractor is able to detect and correct these changes.
During pregnancy a woman’s centre of gravity shifts and the spine alters itself to accommodate this change. These alterations can include:
- Release of the hormone “relaxin” – causing muscle and ligament relaxation which leads to more easily misaligned joints;
- Increased joint stress – leading to increased occurrence of vertebral and sacroiliac joint misalignments;
- Increased weight gain and change in weight distribution – leading to an increased demand on spinal and pelvic muscles; and
- Increased stress on spinal and pelvic ligaments.
As a result, many expectant mothers may experience lower back and pelvic pain. These stresses can be treated by your Chiropractor using gentle and modified techniques during your pregnancy to make your spinal adjustments easy and comfortable.
Chiropractic treatment and infants
- During the birthing process the neck and back vertebrae of the baby can go out of alignment due to the stretching and compressing of the baby’s body as it emerges into the world.
- If your delivery included a prolonged pushing stage, forceps or vacuum extraction, or other forms of assisted delivery, the chances of misalignments are great.
- If the misalignments are big enough, the functioning of the baby’s body can be compromised.
- Your baby’s digestive system can be affected and ineffective digestion of breast milk and formula can cause major discomfort in your baby leading to colic episodes.
Definition of Colic
Infantile colic is described as “unexplainable and uncontrollable crying in babies 0 to 3 months old for more than 3 hours per day, more than 3 days a week and for more than 3 weeks.”
Additional symptoms of colic include:
- the baby’s knees pulled up to the chest;
- clenched fists;
- extension of the trunk or extremities;
- irritability;
- abnormal posturing;
- delayed postural patterning; and
- problems suckling.
Causes of Colic
- The mother’s diet, stressful pregnancy, lactose intolerance and a family history of colic.
- Mechanical stresses during pregnancy and delivery causing spinal misalignments.
- Certain refluxes which facilitate babies passage naturally, fail to “switch off” in caesarean babies and thus the excessive extension of their back causes spinal stress irritating the nerve supply to the digestive system resulting in indigestion, cramps etc.
Chiropractic Treatment
The adjustments that a Chiropractor will do on your baby involve the application of gentle manual mobilizations techniques to correct misalignments in the neck and spine. You may see your baby totally relax as the misalignments are corrected.