Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The Prenatal Chiropractor: A Pregnant Woman's Best Friend

Whenever anyone asks me about pregnancy, I always try to remember that all women are different.  I'll tell a woman about my experience, but I'll tell them other stories I have heard too.  Every pregnancy is going to be different.  However, if you were to ever ask me if I have one recommendation for pregnancy, I have one response: a prenatal chiropractor.

Some people are very pro chiropractics, while others are very skeptical; this, I know.  But whether or not you agree with everything about chiropractics, I really believe that, for pregnancy at least, chiropractics is not only the great preventer, it's the great solution as well.  Worried about breech?  The answer is chiropractics.  Have back pain or round ligament pain?  The answer is chiropractics.  Having a hard time walking or staying mobile?  Having a lot of swelling?  Having hip pain or pelvic pain? The answer is chiropractics.  The American Pregnancy Association cites the possible benefits of chiropractic prenatal care as:

  • Maintaining a healthier pregnancy
  • Controling symptoms of nausea
  • Reducing the time of labor and delivery
  • Relieving back, neck, or joint pain
  • Prevent a potential caesarian
A prenatal chiropractor's goal is to keep your pelvis in balance and reduce stress on the uterus and supporting ligaments.  By releasing your Psoas, a muscle deep in your abdomen, your chiropractor can reduce pain and help support your flexibility.  When a uterus is out of balance and the ligaments are strained, it is difficult for your baby to find the right position and can often lead to breech or posterior birth positioning.  The first can lead to a caesarian while the latter can lead to long and painful labors.  The best position for your baby to settle in by the third trimester is anterior (butt facing your stomach) and leaning slightly to your left side (feet in the upper right hand part of your stomach).  It is far easier for your baby to settle into this position if your uterus is properly balanced.  This position is the easiest way for your child to "corkscrew" out during labor and is often the reason for shorter labor and delivery times.  If you are looking at a breech baby, a chiropractor can help you rotate your baby, but it is far easier to begin going early in your pregnancy and prevent it from happening altogether.

As a pregnant woman, I have been able to stay active and only in these last few weeks have I really even developed a very slight waddle.  I have much less back pain than I did when I started going to see my chiropractor (around 20 weeks is when I started getting pains), despite the fact that this baby is much bigger now!  My baby has settled into that wonderful Left Occipital Anterior position and we are all ready to go.  I also look forward to my weekly visits with my chiropractor (you can choose to go less than this, but this frequency works well for me) and feel so much better.  When my little guy first dropped, it was almost immediately following a recent chiropractic adjustment.  I just cannot recommend anything more!

The one thing to remember is to find a chiropractor that does pre-natal.  If you are in the Northern Virginia are, I highly recommend Sana Chiropractic in Reston!

Has anyone out there had any really positive prenatal chiropractic experiences? 

The information above is from:

2 comments:

  1. the disc between them. So if the rib head shifts from that position in any direction, it is misaligned or subluxated.best sports medicine in NC

    ReplyDelete
  2. Heya i'm for the first time here. I found this board and I find It really useful & it helped me out much.
    I hope to give something back and help others like
    you helped me.

    ReplyDelete