Pregnancy and Chiropractic care

Chiropractic care during pregnancy can help alleviate all of the above strains, pains, discomforts, and stresses. Commonly, women who have chiropractic care during pregnancy can benefit by experiencing:

• Healthier pregnancies
• Less discomfort during pregnancy
• Less nausea during pregnancy
• Prevention of cesarean or aggressively controlled delivery because of fetal or pelvic misalignment
• Shorter, easier labor and birth

During Pregnancy
“Pregnancy is a natural physiological function of the woman. She should feel little discomfort during the pregnancy. You often hear of the person who has little or no discomfort during pregnancy, one who has had mild labor pains and relatively easy delivery. This is the way delivery will be if there is the proper separation of the articulations (Sacro-Iliac Joints)” - Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy, Today’s Chiropractic, September/October 1991
Yes, many women have aches and pains during pregnancy. No matter how much we love being pregnant, sometimes it can be a pain in the butt, or side, or back…

The sacroiliac joints are joints that are frequently adjusted by chiropractors. They are also the joints responsible for the majority of lower back pain during pregnancy.

Likewise, sciatica is a common complaint in pregnancy. Sciatica is caused by pressure on the sciatic nerve. Its symptoms include: pain radiating from the lower back, buttocks, and/or down the back of one leg, and sometimes into the foot, ‘seizing up’ of that appendage (an inability to move or manipulate it), aching or burning, tingling or zinging. It usually occurs only in one side. It makes sense for it to intensify with pregnancy weight gain and hormonal fluctuations.

Round ligament pain is another common complaint in pregnancy and is marked by a stretching, aching, or downright painful radiance like a girdle on the underside of your growing belly. Again, chiropractic adjustments throughout pregnancy can reduce the incidence of this occurring, or can keep it from ever occurring.

Finally, a less reported but equally as uncomfortable complaint of pregnancy is symphysis pubis dysfunction. Because of the hormones women release during pregnancy, the added weight and girth of the uterus setting upon the pelvis, and the over compensation of her posture, some women experience an intense pain of the pubic arch (the mons pubis area), popping of the hip joints, groin discomfort, and lower abdominal issues. Unfortunately, many women continue to suffer from this postpartum. The best remedy? Getting your spine and pelvis aligned properly so that it can accommodate the changing dynamics of your body more easily.

Bottom line, regular chiropractic care before any of these issues crop up are your best bet for an easier, more comfortable pregnancy!