Pregnancy/Pre-Natal

If you have become pregnant, congratulations!

One of the best health steps you can take is see a doctor of chiropractic. Chiropractors can provide guidance, resources, symptom relief and health optimizing care.

During pregnancy, a woman's center of gravity shifts forward to the front of her pelvis. This additional weight in front causes stress to the joints of the pelvis, low back and nervous system. A pregnant body needs a flexible and balanced spine, hips and pelvis.

As the baby grows in size, the added weight causes the curvature of the lower back to increase, placing extra stress on the fragile joints on the back of the spine. Any pre-existing problems tend to be worsened as the spine and pelvis becomes overburdened, often leading to pain and difficulty in performing normal daily activities. In addition, during pregnancy: the extra load of weight gain; an increase in circulating hormones causing significant muscle and ligamentous relaxation; mental and emotional changes; can push the body to the brink of failure.

Chiropractic care is a safe and natural approach to supporting your body through the rigors of pregnancy and childbirth, prevent problems from occurring and reduce current discomfort. Women do not need to have a problem to receive chiropractic care.

Studies have found that about half of all expectant mothers develop low-back pain at some point during their pregnancies. In fact, most women have found that chiropractic care helped them avoid the use of pain medications during their pregnancy, and studies have shown that chiropractic adjustments help to reduce time in labour.

Research tells us that chiropractic care during pregnancy has been shown to:

• Help maintain pregnancy
• Control vomiting
• Help or stop premature contractions
• Help you remain active throughout your pregnancy
• Reduce the need for pain medication during pregnancy by half
• Release in-utero constraint, facilitating the turning of breech babies
• Be safe for mother and baby

During the labour and birth process chiropractic care has been shown to:

• Shorten labour time by 25 to 60 percent
• Reduce the incidence of back labour
• Reduce the amount of pain medication during labour
• Help make delivery more comfortable

Chiropractic is very popular among pregnant women, according to a report published in June. Specifically, 36.6 percent of pregnant women in the study opted to seek care from a doctor of chiropractic.

- Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, June 2005