Pregnancy
Chiropractic can and should be used in all stages of pregnancy. That’s why every day pregnant women are receiving chiropractic care worldwide. As chiropractic focuses on relieving pressure on the nervous system by balancing any joint or muscular dysfunction in the body, treatment has been shown to not only make pregnancy more enjoyable but also aids in an easier delivery.
Less pain
One of the most common initial reasons why pregnant women first go to a chiropractor is because of back pain. Two out of every three women experience back pain during pregnancy (that’s approximately 65 million women around the world at any one time). There are two main reasons for this.
Firstly, as your baby grows the extra weight causes your centre of gravity to shift forwards which in turn rotates your pelvis and causes your lower back to arch. This results in excess pressure on your spine and also the muscles around your pelvis and ligaments in your groin, all of which can lead to pain and discomfort. Also, we are designed that everything in the abdomen fits in nice and snugly. However, as your baby grows and the abdominal muscles are stretched, your internal organs can be pushed around to accommodate the extra size.
In addition, all of these biomechanical changes can also lead to increases in frequency of mid- back pain, neck pain, headaches, carpal tunnel syndrome, leg cramps and even nausea. All of which may be helped by chiropractic care.
Secondly, during pregnancy a hormone called Relaxin can be present in a concentration 10 times greater than normal. As the name suggests, the role of Relaxin is to relax the joints in your pelvis so that the baby has room to pass through the birth canal. Unfortunately this can also cause abnormal movement in the joints of the pelvis and elsewhere in the body, especially if these areas have extra stress to begin with. Imagine building a tower with an uneven foundation and then coming along and loosening the supporting scaffolding. Not an ideal situation.
Safety
On a more positive note, due to the special hormone levels during pregnancy and the decreased tone in your ligaments, you can get excellent results with very gentle techniques and specific alterations made to your exact case. This is one of the reasons why specific chiropractic care is so safe for both mother and baby during all stages of pregnancy.
To this end, Dr. Gary has taken further advanced training in the care of pregnant women and has even had research published on chiropractic treatment and pregnancy. He also routinely receives referrals from midwives, pregnancy educators, family physicians, paediatricians and obstetricians.
Easier Delivery
Another common reason why women seek chiropractic care during pregnancy is to increase the chances of an easier labour. If the joints in your pelvis are misaligned it can put tension on the ligaments that attach from your pelvis to your uterus. This tightening can reduce the amount of space available for the developing baby and make it more difficult for your child to achieve the best position possible for delivery. This restriction is called intrauterine constraint and such positions tend to lead to longer more painful deliveries with an increased use of medical intervention.
Luckily, gentle pregnancy related advanced chiropractic techniques that we carry out can help to resolve cases of intrauterine constraint and can even allow babies in a breech position to turn before delivery.
Women who undergo chiropractic care during their pregnancy report easier less painful deliveries with less need for medical intervention and less need for medication. Testament to this is the fact that studies have shown that pregnant women receiving chiropractic care have 24% shorter labours if it is their first child and 39% shorter labours with subsequent children.
In Summary
Research has shown that chiropractic care during pregnancy:
- Reduces back pain during pregnancy
- Reduces the need for pain medication by half during pregnancy
- Helps you remain active during pregnancy
- Can be used to treat mid-back pain, neck pain, headaches, carpal tunnel syndrome, leg cramps and even nausea during pregnancy
- Is safe for both mother and baby
- Can reduce labour time by 24 – 39%
- Reduces the amount of back pain and pain medication during labour
- Can help with your baby’s position, as well as turning breech babies
- Allows for a generally more comfortable delivery
If you would like any more information or would like to book an appointment please contact My Dubai Chiropractor.
