When it comes to Chiropractic care, many people already know that this is a modality that can be utilised for things like neck pain, headaches and back pain. However, not everyone knows how and why Chiropractic care should be considered when it comes to pregnancy. There are three different components of your pregnancy journey I would like to cover in this blog article.
Pregnancy- How you feel during pregnancy and how Chiropractic care can play a part in making it a comfortable experience for you
Delivering your baby- How Chiropractic could play a part in how you deliver your baby (no matter the mode of delivery, Chiropractic care can support you with this)
Postpartum- How you recover postpartum and the changes your different body and lifestyle will experience.
During pregnancy!
Without getting into all the different specifics and minute details, the overall goal is to get your body moving well and feeling well so that it can adapt to your changing body during this stage of your life. Each trimester will have different milestones and with that will come different hurdles that may at times give us some discomfort. Chiropractic care comes into this to reduce commonly experienced things like pelvic girdle pain, low back pain, rib pain, neck pain and round ligament pain. If these issues do not get resolved, we run the risk of having more pain throughout the pregnancy but also the impacts of this pain. These impacts could be reduced quality of sleep, less mobility, increased sedentary time frames which can also impact your options for birth which I’ll cover in the next section. The bottom line is that although there are many COMMON ailments that can be felt during pregnancy, not all of them are normal and the majority of them can be improved with some Chiropractic care added into your routine.
How you deliver your baby
At Dynamic Chiropractic, we utilise a wide range of techniques. Some of these are centred around getting your baby into the best position for birth. This will help baby descend down the birth canal for a vaginal delivery but for those that are having a planned caesarian- will make it easier for your antenatal team to retrieve baby. Regardless of how you plan to birth your baby, Chiropractic care with us will support you along that journey. Your baby and where they are positioned in your pelvis can also impact your comfort levels throughout pregnancy as well such reduce discomfort such as back pain. By preparing your body with Chiropractic care, you may also find a shorter labour time and reduced need for interventions because you are more mobile and your body has been supported leading up to that moment in time. We will also provide you with educational resources so that you feel prepared for your delivery!
How you recover postpartum
This is often an overlooked chapter when it comes to pregnancy. Your body has morphed over the course of your pregnancy, you have delivered a wonderful baby and now you will have to navigate to the different physical demands being a parent brings. Depending on how you delivered your baby will also have some implications with recovering postpartum. The different tasks with settling, feeding, bathing and carrying your child will play a role in your ergonomics and how your body recovers. With Chiropractic support around these challenges we will be able to guide you through discomforts such as upper back and neck pain that comes from prolonged feeds and holding your little one.
To wrap everything up- there are so many different stages of pregnancy that will have different obstacles that you will come across. As a Pregnancy Chiropractor, it is something that we highly passionate about and have a special interest in. Pregnancy care at any stage is always better than none. However if you are able to involve gentle Chiropractic care into your pregnancy journey and beyond, you might discover a new modality that can make a world of a difference to you and how you experience your pregnancy.
