Pains of Pregnancy – How Prenatal Chiropractic Care Helps

You’re pregnant?!? CONGRATULATIONS!

You’re pregnant and hurting? Bummer

As soon as sperm meets egg, the body begins the immediate shift to preserving and perpetuating the pregnancy.  And as beautiful as we hope pregnancy will be… over the next nine months, mom will probably experience multiple discomforts or even pain.

For example, morning sickness: it’s very common in pregnancy, it does NOT just happen in the morning, and it may or may not go away after first trimester.

Headaches are also a common symptom starting as soon as the first trimester and may last throughout the whole pregnancy. There are several possible reasons for this; dehydration, low blood sugar, or caffeine withdrawal (because we’re supposed to decrease or eliminate caffeine intake during pregnancy).  Another underlying cause of headaches is neck or upper back spinal misalignments, which can feel like neck stiffness, fatigue trying to your head up, not being able to turn it as easy, and muscle spasms, tightness, or knots.  Chiropractors are trained to best assess and treat these types of headaches.

By second trimester the pregnancy weight begins to accumulate enough to show a baby bump.  Mom’s body has been undergoing changes in her biomechanics to accommodate this weight, like your center of gravity shifting forward and your lumbar spinal curve increasing (technical term is hyper-lordosis). If you already had spinal misalignments or joint dysfunctions, the pregnancy can cause symptoms like back pain, hip pain, sciatica, or pubic bone pain. All the supporting soft tissues (muscle/tendons/ligaments/fascia) will get stretched and tensed and distorted, which can exacerbate non-spine symptoms like heart burn, reflux, constipation, round ligament pain, difficulty breathing, or difficulty sleeping.

The sometimes overlooked benefit of prenatal chiropractic care is how the chiropractic adjustment has a positive impact on the nervous system; therefore, it will influence the neuro-endocrine (hormone) system.  We blame pregnancy hormones on everything!  And rightfully so… estrogen and progesterone levels have sky-rocketed so you keep being pregnant.  It is also the hormones that signal the timing of all fetal development stages.

I mean, just imagine all the biochemical signaling that is happening every second to coordinate all the physiological processes of growing a baby

Wow. Just wow.  When you recognize the significance of your nervous system’s job during pregnancy, of course you’ll want to make sure your nervous system has been checked and cleared of any interference by a prenatal chiropractor!  Because every mom wants her baby’s growth to be fully coordinated and communicate, to set up her baby for a lifetime of health benefits.

You can see why I’m passionate about checking every pregnant mom? As a prenatal chiropractor, I know the intricacies of the alignment of the pelvis, the mobility/stability in the pelvic joints, and the tension of the soft tissue supporting the pelvis and uterus… and more importantly, how the pregnancy hormones affect all of this and more. Often simple lifestyle changes (diets, resting positions, and movements), can lessens symptoms and decrease their reoccurrences.  And, of course, we help moms prepare for labor, birth, and the postpartum.

Do you want to get checked or learn more? Schedule a phone consultation with Dr. Kristen or Webster Analysis visit today.