If you are expecting a baby, then you probably have a lot on your mind. While it is the most natural thing in the world, having a baby has become an industry of products and recommendations; and you may be feeling a little overwhelmed with all the choices. Unfortunately, no one can make those choices for you, but we can help you make informed decisions.

Your Doctor of Chiropractic

A properly functioning spine and nervous system is an important part of a wellness pregnancy. In addition to the noticeable changes your pregnancy will cause your body, pregnancy can also cause subtle changes in the musculoskeletal system; changes that we are able to detect and correct.

The position of your growing baby will cause your center of gravity to shift and your spine will naturally alter itself to accommodate this change. As a result, you may experience low back and pelvic pain. The increase in hormones during pregnancy can also cause muscles, ligaments, cartilage, and even bones to “soften” and become more pliable. Pelvic bones may even become displaced or fixated. Since your hips will need to spread to accommodate the delivery of your baby, fixated pelvic bones can lead to complications during delivery.

It’s especially important during pregnancy for nerve impulses to flow from your brain to all the parts of your body. A slightly out of place vertebra can create nerve irritation, which can and will interfere with your body’s communication system. By using special or modified techniques during your pregnancy, we can restore the function of your nervous system, improving your overall wellness and increasing your comfort during your pregnancy and delivery.

In fact, research has proven that:

84% of pregnant women treated by chiropractic care received profound relief from low back pain.
Women who received chiropractic care had nearly a 25% reduction in the average labor time versus the “generally accepted average labor time”.

-With women who had given birth in the past, that number rose to 33%

Postpartum pain was relieved in 90 to 120 moms who received regular chiropractic care.

During your pregnancy, we can do the following:

Correct vertebral misalignment and relieve nerve interference with gentle adjustments.
Help ensure that pelvic bones are properly aligned, contributing to a shorter and easier delivery.
Re-establish the natural position and mobility of the joints.
Provide freedom from interference of normal nerve energy.
Decrease the likelihood of your baby being in the wrong position during the last trimester.

More than just a treatment for low back pain, many mothers have come to recognize the vital role that chiropractic care plays in a healthy pregnancy, reporting back to their chiropractors that regular spinal adjustments helped them feel healthier during their pregnancy, decreased morning sickness, facilitated shorter labor and delivery times, and increased an overall sense of well-being.

A Midwife or a Non-Invasive Ob/Gyn

Choosing where you deliver your baby and who assists you is one of, if not the most, important decisions you’ll make. Most choose to have their baby with a midwife or OB/GYN in a hospital, with a midwife at a birth center, or with a midwife at home.

Whatever your desire, it’s important to make sure that your care provider is in agreement with your wishes. While the medical community claims that they will support your decisions, the facts say otherwise.

Efforts have been made to educate and inform women about healthier deliveries since the 1970’s but, despite how it looks, the situation hasn’t changed:

Studies have shown that it’s possible to keep cesarean sections down to between 4% and 8% of deliveries and yet they’ve risen to almost 33%.
Epidurals are being given in almost 75% of all deliveries.

With medical personnel convinced that they’re doing the “right thing”, it’s almost impossible to have natural childbirth in a hospital. That’s why so many women are choosing home births or birthing centers where their choice to have a natural childbirth will not only be accepted, but encouraged.

Despite rumors to the contrary home births are no more dangerous than a hospital birth; in reality, they may be safer since a home birth setting allows the care providers to engage in nutritional and health education while eliminating exposure to anesthetics and interfere with neonatal neurological development, and to bacteria or viruses that flourish in a hospital. A home birth also means less disruption of bonding for the mother, baby, and the rest of the family.

Before you make your delivery decision, ask us for the names of the providers we work with and recommend. Explore your options and make an informed choice.

Doula or Dontcha?

The word “Doula” is derived from the Greek word for the most important slave or servant in the household who helped the lady of the house with childbearing. Today, the word has come to refer to “a woman experienced in childbirth who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to the mother before, during and just after childbirth.”

If you are considering using a doula, remember that an experienced doula:

Recognizes birth as a life experience that the mother will always remember.
Stays by the side of the laboring woman through the entire labor and assists in preparing for and carrying out the parent’s plan for the birth.
Provides emotional support, physical comfort measures, an objective viewpoint and assistance in getting the information an expectant mother needs to make good decisions.
Supports, educates, and encourages partners as they are also experiencing the birth of their child.
Perceives her role as one who nurtures and protects the woman’s memory of her birth experience.

With the recognition of their important contribution to the improved physical outcomes and emotional well being of mothers and infants, the acceptance of doulas in maternity care is growing rapidly. Did you know, Dr. Sandy has been a doula and on-call chiropractor to many of her patients for over 20 years?

In Summary

Pregnancy can be the most exciting time of your life, but concern about making the right decisions can tarnish the glow. Make an appointment to talk with us today, if you’re pregnant or considering conceiving. Just as the decision to use a doula, midwife, or OB/GYN can affect your overall childbirth experience, so can your nutrition, exercise, and spinal health.

http://www.icpa4kids.org/research/chiropractic/pregnancy.htmi