5 Reasons to Have Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy

Did you know… seeing a chiropractor during pregnancy will actually increase the health of your grandchild?

Keep reading to find out how!

Chiropractic Care is Self-Care

Self-care is especially important during pregnancy. One way that I have implemented self-care is by visiting a chiropractor for chiropractic care.

Click here for more information and tips on self-care!

Ok, guys, I may have fallen off the turnip truck, but I did not know that there were prenatal and newborn chiropractors. Why would a newborn need a chiropractor? Well, have you SEEN the process of birth? That is enough to get anyone’s system out of whack lol.

Chiropractic care during pregnancy? YES!!!!

During pregnancy, your body releases a wonderful hormone called relaxin to loosen your joints and prepare your body for birth.

Relaxin is a hormone produced by the ovary and the placenta with important effects in the female reproductive system and during pregnancy. In preparation for childbirth, it relaxes the ligaments in the pelvis and softens and widens the cervix.

Sounds great, right? Well, it is, and it isn’t. While all of those ligaments are loose and relaxed, it makes it easy for things to slip out of its natural place.

In this article, we will discuss these five ways chiropractic care helps during pregnancy.

1. Decreases discomfort
2. Improves energy
3. Optimizes fetal position
4. Improves labor times
5. Facilitates natural birth

But first, lets discuss what chiropractic care is and what it isn’t.

What is Chiropractic Care NOT?

Chiropractic care is not medicine. Your chiropractor will not prescribe pain medication or antibiotics.

Chiropractic care is not just for back pain. While you can see a chiropractor for back pain, there is so much more to what they do.

Chiropractic care is not symptom and disease treatment. Whereas you go to a physician with a headache, and he will give you something for the headache. If the headache persists, then they will run tests and try to find the cause of the headaches.

What is Chiropractic Care?

Chiropractic care is the moving away from symptom and disease treatment, and into the building of health.

There are five factors to overall personal health of your whole being.

1. Physical
2. Emotional
3. Social
4. Spiritual
5. Intellectual

When any one of these areas is not functioning optimally, then it can throw your entire system off. Think of it like the cogs in a clock. If you have one cog that is misaligned, then you will not have a well-functioning (or correct) clock, no matter how well the rest of the cogs are working.

With Chiropractic care, the general belief is that your body will tell you when it is not functioning optimally and that if you correct the subluxation, then the body will again be able to work optimally and you will feel better as a result.

**Subluxation is the misfiring of nerves caused by a misalignment in the vertebrae which causes a subsequent loss of function**

How Chiropractic Care Enhances Pregnancy Health

I started seeing a chiropractor later in life at the age of 28, for neck pain.  When I became pregnant at 31, I assumed that I had to stop going to the chiropractor. 

“How in the world was it safe for me to lay on my stomach and get adjusted, especially as my stomach starts to grow?! There’s no way it can be safe for me or my baby!”

This is a very common thought/misconception that society has. Well, thank goodness the chiropractor I was seeing at the time, educated me about the benefits of getting adjusted while pregnant on top of the benefits it had for my growing baby. 

“My life was forever changed”

My life was forever changed, so much so, the experience led me to eventually change my career from an elementary school teacher to a prenatal chiropractor!

  I saw what chiropractic care did for my pregnancy, birth/delivery, and my daughter, Gracyn (who is now 8), and how much it changed both our lives. You could say I wanted to return the favor and help other pregnant women! 🙂

“My pregnancy was ‘easy'”

I LOVED being pregnant! I can honestly say my pregnancy was “easy.” I didn’t have any of the major symptoms most pregnant complain about. During my pregnancy, I did not experience any of the following: morning sickness, low back pain, piriformis/buttock pain, leg pain, hip/pubic pain, and headaches. My daughter was born exactly on her due date at Charleston Birth Place.

While my labor was long (48 hours!) I had the energy/stamina to deliver my daughter naturally/vaginally, without any drugs or medical intervention (epidural, Pitocin, etc), other than a few tricks the midwives had to use toward the end.  Side note: midwives are AMAZING!

---

5 ways that chiropractic care enhances pregnancy health

Decreases Discomfort

• Decreases Discomfort- Chiropractic care helps to alleviate common pregnancy pain such as pain in the hips, pubic bones, lower back, sciatica, headaches, shoulder tension, and round ligament pain.

Facilitates Natural Birth

• Facilitates Natural Birth- Chiropractic care during pregnancy has been shown to decrease the need for interventions. This is great news for those of us who love birthing at home with a midwife, or in a birth center, or just want an intervention-free birthing experience. I highly suggest visiting a chiropractor if you are considering a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). Remember, every intervention has an effect on your body and can lead to further interventions, and possibly a c-section.

Decreases Labor Time

• Decreases Labor Times- Chiropractic care has been shown to decrease labor time and increases energy and stamina during the birth. This in turn leads to less medical interventions and decreases your chance of having a cesarian section. Chiropractic care has also been shown to increase your chance for a successful VBAC.

Optimizes Fetal Position

• Optimizes Fetal Position- Find out if your chiropractor is certified in the Webster Technique. The Webster Technique is a “specific chiropractic analysis and diversified adjustment” with a goal of reducing the effects of subluxation and/or SI joint dysfunction. This improves the neuro-biomechanical function in the sacral/pelvic region, which in turn, allows the baby to grow/develop optimally and decreases the chances of dystocia (difficult labor) for the mother. 

Improves Energy and Mood

• Improves Energy/ Mood- Chiropractic care during pregnancy has been proven to increase your energy and mood. The more energy you have the more likely you are to stay active. Activity leads to increased stamina and it has been shown that regular, low impact exercise throughout your pregnancy will lead to birthing on-time with shorter labor times.

---

So, how does this help your grandchild? Through Epigenetics.

Epigenetics is basically environmental factors that have an effect on your DNA. These factors can include diet, exercise, exposure to toxins or chemicals, etc.

So, while you are pregnant with your child (even BEFORE you are pregnant)- the things that you do, and don’t do will have a great impact on your baby as she develops, and in turn on her child.

Eat right, get proper exercise and rest, and keep your neurological health in tip-top shape!

Thank you to the following doctors for allowing me to gleam from your insight, intellect, and passion for mothers!

Dr. Steve Ranicki of Ranicki Chiropractic Wellness Center.

*Call Olivia at (912) 748-1506 for a complimentary evaluation and consultation for yourself or your baby! Just tell her I sent you!

Dr. Melissa Ferry of Live Oak Chiropractic

Dr. Kaleb Scroggins of Restoration Chiropractic

---

Talk birthy to me! Are you pregnant? Want to chat about birth photography?

Visit my birth gallery