Chiropractic
care in pregnancy is an essential ingredient to your prenatal care
choices. A large percent of all pregnant women experience back
discomfort or pain during pregnancy. A healthy spine and pelvis will
accommodate the rapid growth of the baby with little or no discomfort.
However, many women have previously unnoticed imbalances in the spine
or pelvis that become painfully evident as the imbalances interfere
with your body’s normal structural adaptations to your baby's growth.
Imagine
having minor superficial cuts on your skin that don't bother you at
all. But then you jump into saltwater and they sting. So too, the
pregnancy is not normally the cause of the back discomfort; it merely
highlights an existing problem. Those preexisting and previously
unnoticed imbalances in your spine and pelvis become overtaxed
during pregnancy. The added stresses lead to discomfort and difficulty
while performing routine, daily activities. Chiropractic care
throughout pregnancy can relieve and even prevent the common
discomforts experienced in pregnancy. Specific adjustments eliminate
these stresses in your spine, restore balance to your pelvis and result
in greater comfort and lifestyle improvements.
As
your baby develops, your uterus enlarges to accommodate the rapid
growth. So long as the pelvis is in a balanced state, the ligaments
connecting the pelvic bones to the uterus maintain an equalized,
supportive suspension for the uterus. If your pelvis is out of balance
in any way, these ligaments may become torqued and twisted, causing a
condition known as constraint to your uterus. This constraint limits
the space of the developing baby. Any compromised position for the
baby throughout pregnancy will affect his or her optimal development.
Conditions such as torticollis can occur because a baby’s space was
cramped in utero.
If the woman’s uterus is constrained as
birth approaches, the baby can be prevented from getting into the best
possible position for birth. Even if the baby is in the desirable head
down position, often times constraint to the uterus affects the baby’s
head from moving into the ideal presentation for delivery. The head
may be slightly tilted off to one side or even more traumatically,
present in the posterior position. Any baby position even slightly off
during birth can slow down labor, and add pain to both the mother and
baby. Many women have been told that their babies were too big, or
labor “just slowed down” when it was really the baby’s presentation
interfering with the normal process and progression. Avoidable
interventions are implemented turning a natural process into an
operative one.
Our Doctors of Chiropractic work specifically
with your pelvis throughout pregnancy restoring a state of balance and
creating an environment for an easier, safer delivery.
Dystocia
is defined as difficult labor and is something every woman wants to
avoid. In addition to the pain and exhaustion caused by long,
difficult labors, dystocia leads to multiple, medical interventions
which may be physically and emotionally traumatic to both you and your
baby. Some of these interventions are the administering of pitocin,
the use of epidurals, painful episiotomies, forceful pulling on the
baby’s fragile spine, vacuum extraction, forceps and perhaps even
c-sections. Each of these procedures carry a risk of injury to you,
your baby or both! However, all of these procedures used to hasten the
delivery process can be avoided if delivery goes more smoothly to begin
with.
When reviewing the obstetric texts, the reported reasons
for dystocia are caused by pelvic imbalance and its resulting effects
on your uterus and your baby’s position. Chiropractic care throughout
pregnancy restores balance to your pelvic muscles and ligaments and
therefore leads to safer and easier deliveries for you and your baby.
Additionally, the chiropractic adjustment removes interference to the
nervous system allowing your uterus to function at its maximum
potential. Published studies have indicated that chiropractic care
does in fact reduce labor time.
We offer specific analysis and
adjustments for your special needs in pregnancy. You and your baby’s
continued safety and comfort is primary in our care. This pregnancy,
offer yourself the best! Include the many benefits chiropractic offers
in your prenatal care choices. Call for your individual consultation.
Give you and your baby the opportunity for a more comfortable pregnancy
and a safer, easier birth!
