Pregnancy

Can you get adjusted while you're pregnant?

Often women feel, or have been told, that they should not be adjusted or see a chiropractor during pregnancy. However, chiropractic care during pregnancy is safe and can give great benefits to the mother and child.

The creation of a new life is a miraculous and demanding job. The growing baby depends on the mother for everything. What mom eats, drinks, or inhales all have a profound impact on the growth and development of the baby. Mom's mental state also chiropractic care during pregnancy can have a profound impact. And the healthier the mother's nerve system is, the better she is able to pass nutrition to the baby, eliminate waste and toxins from the blood, and handle stress. This helps keep the in-utero environment as nuturing and healthy as possible.

Chiropractic adjustments during pregnancy primarily help by keeping the mother's nerve system healthy and strong. However, as the pregnancy progresses there are many structural benefits as well. In the last trimester when the baby is gaining the most weight and size, the mother's body changes dramatically. Her center of gravity shifts forward, muscles and ligaments pull and are stretched in different ways, blood flow changes, etc. As mom's body prepares for the birth a hormone is produced in her that softens her ligaments and tendons to allow her pelvis to accommodate the baby during birth. While this is necessary, it also makes misalignments of the spine more likely. If her pelvis has restricted motion when labor begins, it can make for a more difficult and/or slower labor. If mom is in good adjustment, labor is more likely to progress naturally.

We utilize a special adjustment table with a "cut away" portion to accommodate Mom's tummy as the baby grows, allowing for more comfortable adjustments.

Breech

Many women have now heard of the Webster Technique™. This is a chiropractic adjustment procedure used in the last trimester of pregnancy when the baby is breech and has not spontaneously turned.

The Webster Technique™ should not be confused with a medical "version" maneuver. The chiropractor does not manually turn the baby. Dr. Larry Webster, DC developed this technique after providing chiropractic care for hundreds of pregnant women. If there is nerve pressure or subluxations of the pelvis it can cause abnormal nerve signals to be sent to the uterus causing it to contract slightly, not giving the baby room to turn on it's own. Once the subluxation is corrected the uterus is able to return to a normal tone, or relaxed state, which gives the baby room to turn and correct the breech presentation.

The Webster Technique™ is usually over 80% effective in assisting correct breech babies.

Infertility

Infertility is a more common problem than most people realize. It is usually not until a couple begins trying to have a baby and don't conceive that questions of fertility arise. Most of the time we think it's harder not to conceive a baby than to get pregnant!

Once a couple realizes they are not easily getting pregnant many questions can arise. It can cause significant stress in the relationship, as well as personal turmoil within each individual. Medical options to treat infertility can be arduous and expensive and may not yield conception.

Chiropractic care is not usually considered by couples in this situation, but many couples have found a simple and effective solution through chiropractic care. Though chiropractors do not treat infertility in the medical sense, by helping restore normal function to the nerve system, many women receive great benefits to their reproductive systems. We have seen skeptical couples who had been trying for a baby for many months conceive shortly after beginning care in our office.