Chiropractic care is meant to help keep your spine in alignment. And also helps with any joint and ligament stiffness/discomfort. These same principles certainly apply to pregnancy. There are several physiological and endocrinological changes that occur within a mother when creating the environment for her developing baby. Some of these changes also include:

• Protruding abdomen and increased back curve
• Pelvic changes
• Postural adaptations

New levels of hormones affect the body’s structure as well and can cause ligament flexibility. Carol Phillips, a chiropractor whose practice deals with almost exclusively pregnant women states, “When women are pregnant, you can almost blow on them to make the adjustment because of the ligament laxity [due to hormones]. You just put your hands in the right position to allow the muscles to make the adjustment.”

As you can see chiropractic care during pregnancy can certainly help relieve the back and leg pain. But it can also help to relieve discomfort from “out of whack” hormones as well!

Let’s be honest, pregnancy is really hard on the body. Not only does the body change in structure but it also rapidly changes in weight as well. As your baby grows and gets heavier, the weight of your expanding belly changes your posture and spinal curvature. This new weight gain forces your body to adapt to the additional stress now placed all over your body.

Normally when a person gains weight, it gets dispersed all over the body. This is a reason why we can’t really troubleshoot weight loss. But for new mothers, there is only one place the weight is going, the front and center of their body. This is why there is so much back pain involved in pregnancy, as women have to relearn their center of gravity and compensate their posture accordingly.

Just like the spinal changes, weight change negatively affects joint function and nerve communication. This is another reason why chiropractic care during pregnancy is so important. Even just a few sessions throughout your term can restore proper posture and prevent some of the pregnancy stressors and pain that affect most women.

As the spine, joints, and weight changes during pregnancy, pelvic balance is thrown off as well. When the pelvic balance is off, the room available for your developing baby could be reduced. This is a problem referred to as intrauterine constraint. Chiropractors can actually adjust the pelvis to prevent this issue and also lessen the chances of having a breeched presentation.

Chiropractic care during pregnancy can also help shorten labor and even make the entire birthing process easier. This is especially crucial for mothers who wish for a drug-free and natural birth.

Need More Incentive to Try Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy?

All chiropractors can provide chiropractic care during pregnancy. However, Dr. Zock is certified in the Webster Technique. This is a technique that we will discuss next week.  For more reassurance, please take a look at our testimonials and see how Zock Family Chiropractic has been helping expectant mothers for years. As always, simply contact us to schedule an introductory chiropractic session so we can discuss your needs and help keep you as comfortable as possible over the course of your pregnancy!

Dr. Zock is certified in Webster Technique, designed to improve pelvic biomechanics during pregnancy. The Webster technique is a specific chiropractic analysis and diversified adjustment. The goal of the adjustment is to reduce the effects of sacral subluxation/ SI joint dysfunction. Through proper alignment, neuro-biomechanical function in the pelvis is improved.

As a result of this process, the balanced state in the pelvis has been shown to allow for optimal positioning of your baby. The technique has become known as the Webster Technique.

During the first part of the pregnancy, it is often normal for a baby to present breech until the third trimester.  In fact, most birth practitioners are not concerned with breech presentations until the expecting mom is more than 37 weeks into the pregnancy.  Today, in the United States, approximately 4% of all pregnancies will result in breech birth.