Pregnancy is a beautiful event in many women's lives. Unfortunately, at some point during those 36-40 weeks of pregnancy back pain can become a problem. There are many changes going on in a woman's body while the baby is growing. These changes include a growing abdomen, an increase in low back curvature, pelvic changes, postural adaptions... I could keep going, but the list would be long. The good thing in all of this, the back pain can be helped and it can be helped pretty easily. Chiropractic care has been shown to help and benefit women throughout their pregnancy.
Benefits of Chiropractic Care:
While the unborn child develops, the mother's pelvis has to accommodate and increase the space available. Yet, when the pelvis is misaligned the amount of room available gets reduced. This, in turn, can prevent the baby from getting into the correct position for delivery. Most women today want to experience a natural childbirth, one without drugs and emergency or planned surgery. Keeping the pelvis in proper alignment with regular chiropractic visits throughout the pregnancy can help the delivery process. Women who have received chiropractic care during their pregnancy have experienced an easier, quicker, more natural birthing process. Chiropractic care can even help control symptoms of nausea!
Is it safe?
I have had many soon-to-be new mommies ask me if chiropractic care is safe during pregnancy. Chiropractic is not only safe, but there are no contraindications to chiropractic adjustments for the mother or unborn child. Most people do not know how easy adjustments are for pregnant women. With the amount of relaxin running through a woman's body during pregnancy, everything is super loose and does not require much force at all for an adjustment to occur. Besides the ease of the adjustment, chiropractors have different tools and devices that aid in the comfort of the growing pregnant belly.
What about after the delivery?
After the delivery of your new baby, it is important to continue getting adjusted so that the pelvis stays properly balanced as everything tightens back up to its pre-pregnancy state. The new mommy is not the only one who needs to be cared for though. Chiropractic care is wonderful for new born babies. The birthing process may be quick and easy for the well-adjusted mommy, but delivery is very hard on the new born. Getting your baby checked for spinal misalignments in the very beginning of their life will set them up for proper development. Some babies experience problems after birth, such as latching difficulties, colic, ear infections, and reflux. Chiropractic care has been known to help with these issues and more for new born babies.
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