PREGNANCY AND CHIROPRACTIC
Chiropractic care is essential for the pregnant mother. Her systems and organs are now providing for two and their optimal function is critical for the baby’s healthy development. The mother’s spine and pelvis undergo many changes and adaptations to compensate for the growing baby and the risk of interference to her nervous system is increased. Specific chiropractic care throughout pregnancy works with enhancing nervous system function providing greater health potential for both the mother and baby.
THE WEBSTER TECHNIQUE
In some cases, this constraint restricts the baby’s positions during pregnancy adversely affecting his/her developing spine and cranium. Additionally, these limitations on the baby’s movement during pregnancy may prevent him/her from getting into the best possible position for birth. Any birth position other than the ideal vertex, occiput anterior position of the baby indicates the inhibiting effects of constraint. Such positions lead to longer more painful labors with increased medical interventions in birth. Often c-sections are resorted to and both the mother and baby miss the many benefits of a natural vaginal birth. Our doctors are certified in the Webster Technique and are specifically trained to assess and correct any sacral subluxations that may be affecting the pregnancy and birth process.
The Webster Technique, discovered by Dr. Larry Webster, founder of the ICPA, is a specific chiropractic adjustment for pregnant mothers. Working to correct sacral and pelvic subluxations, this technique balances pelvic muscles and ligaments in the woman’s pelvis, removes constraint which restores normal physiological function and neurology. Dr. Webster instructed many Doctors of Chiropractic in this technique and their combined results showed a significant correlation with babies in the breech position going into the normal head down or vertex position when the pelvic and sacral subluxations were corrected. Because of its ability to facilitate easier, safer deliveries for both the mother and baby, many birth care providers are actively seeking Doctors of Chiropractic with the skills in this technique. For more information on this technique visit the ICPA website at www.icpa4kids.org
WHAT ELSE CAN CHIROPRACTIC DO FOR PREGNANCY?
The nervous system controls all function in your body. Under the direction of your body’s own intelligence, the nervous system will adapt to the changes brought on by a growing new life inside of you. This new life you carry has its own intelligence that will do whatever it must to preserve the health and well-being of itself. This will come at your expense, causing a number of deficiencies that your body will have no choice but to adapt to.
The presence of a vertebral subluxation will interfere with the nervous system’s ability to communicate back and forth with the body. The subluxation will result in three things:
- BODY IMBALANCE – a subluxation at your atlas will tilt your head to one side. Your brain has a reflex called the righting reflex which keeps your eyes level with the horizon. This will cause your lower cervical spine to bend the opposite way of your head tilt. To compensate, your thoracic spine will bend the opposite way, then the opposite way in the lumbar spine, resulting in one side of your pelvis being drawn up and causing one leg to appear shorter than the other, as well as an uneven distribution of weight putting undue stress on the joints. An unevenly aligned pelvis during pregnancy can be incredibly painful, as well as problematic for the baby trying to get into a proper birthing position.
- NERVE TENSION OR PRESSURE – Because of these compensations traveling down your spine, the muscles on one or both sides of your spine will become very tight, and inflammatory effects will take place and escalate in places of spinal misalignment. These changes will add stress to the nerves exiting your spinal column at some level, be it the nerve root or further along the distribution of the nerve. The nerves exiting your spine all lead to various parts of your body, including muscles, organs, glands, and blood vessels. Left alone and, over time, this nerve stress will lead to degeneration in these various body systems.
- BRAIN STEM TENSION OR PRESSURE – A subluxation of your atlas (C1) vertebra will not only narrow the spinal canal in which the spinal cord travels down, but this narrowed space will result in an increase of pressure within this spinal canal. This added pressure will cause undue stress to the brain stem located just above the atlas.
As you can see, the results of a vertebral subluxation do not equate to healthy changes in your body. Your Innate Intelligence can only do so much when given a limitation of matter. Add in a growing baby using up much of your body’s resources to survive and grow within you, and you can begin to see where a subluxation can wreak havoc on the health of a pregnant woman.
How?
The spinal compensations resulting from the subluxation may result in distorted pelvic positioning, which may cause the baby to get into an unfavorable position for birth, possibly breach. This unfavorable position could be adding increased pressure to your pelvic veins and vena cava (the large vein on the right side of your body carrying blood from the legs back up to the heart). This pressure could slow down the flow of blood back up to the heart, causing the blood to pool in your legs. This will only add to the swelling you might be experiencing in your ankles, as well as contributing to the increased risk of preeclampsia in your last trimester. This may also lead to dystocia during the labor process, increasing the risk of unwanted intervention.
The nerve pressure and tension caused by the spinal compensations in the spine may lead to improper signals to be sent to various organs and tissues. Pressure and tension on the nerves in your mid to upper thoracic spine may lead to decreased function of the heart and/or lungs. This may result in an added shortness of breath. Or maybe high blood pressure, adding to that risk of preeclampsia.
Maybe pressure in the lower thoracic, lumbar, and sacral nerves results in decreased blood flow to organs such as your kidney and liver. This could result in decreased organ function, which may cause proteins to leak into the urine, another sign of preeclampsia. Nerve tension in these lower spinal areas may result in a tight uterus, making you unable to relax during labor due to the pain you feel with each contraction. This might keep you from dilating properly, only adding to the stress a possible cesarean section can create.
A subluxation of your atlas will cause tension or pressure to the area of your brain stem. This tension or pressure will interfere with the brain stem’s ability to coordinate the messages being sent to the body by the brain. This could interfere with the proper distribution of hormones such as estrogen and progesterone. Since the placenta is being developed with the help of estrogen and progesterone, a lessened amount of both these hormones may result in complications with the placenta, and therefore the growing baby inside that placenta.
As you can see, a vertebral subluxation is not a minor thing to ignore. Even the most seemingly insignificant of subluxations will always run some kind of interference to the brain-body communication. This is never a good thing, and especially not when you are pregnant and your body needs the most help and the least interference.
You deserve to have the best chance at a successful pregnancy and childbirth, and you can only do that with a nervous system that is running free and clear of interference. Schedule your appointment at New Life Chiropractic in Rocklin today.
