How to Reduce Pain in Pregnancy and Labour Without Drugs

In the last week, two first time Mum's, who are very new to our Organic Chiropractic care, asked me if they should carry on with their Chiropractic care during pregnancy.

Our answer is a really clear and unquestionable 'YES' but then we realised that most women don't understand why we think like this! So let's break that why down...

Your nerve system controls your entire body. Every thought, movement, breath you take, food you digest etc etc is all controlled by your nerve system (cool hey?).

But when we grow little human beings in our belly's, our nerve system has EVEN MORE co-ordination it needs to do!!

Now, just add into the mix of every day survival the weight gain, the posture adaptations, the hormone changes (aren't they a joy!), the energy changes and the nightly bladder control issues, it's no wonder most women start to get a bit overwhelmed and frazzled before they've even got to their third trimester.

If you're experiencing the above, it's most likely because your nerve system doesn't co-ordinate your body's adaptations to pregnancy in an appropriate way.

This is usually due to CORE ISSUES in the way your nerve system is sending messages through the body that tell it how to function properly and appropriately during this time.

An Organic Chiropractor focuses on un-blocking these areas and restoring normal balance and tone to the nerve system to allow it function better and heal optimally where it needs to. This automatically reduces pain and dysfunction within the body and allows a woman to enjoy her pregnancy.

So here's 5 reasons why every woman should be under Chiropractic care during pregnancy:

1. OPTIMAL BABY GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT. Your baby grows in your uterus that sits in your pelvis. Various muscles and ligaments attach to your pelvis. If your pelvis is shifted and misaligned, this disrupts the nerve signals to these muscle and ligaments and you get abnormal muscle tension. If we have abnormality in these tissues, it can lead to a lot of groin and buttock discomfort, but most importantly, it restricts the room a baby has to grow and develop in- utero.

2. PAIN MANAGEMENT IN LABOR. Chiropractic has been shown in the research to help reduce labor times significantly (1) and it also has been shown to help reduce the need for pain medication during labour (2). Both of these scenarios reduces the likelihood of birth trauma for Mom and baby (and emotional trauma for Dad watching too!!)

3. REDUCES TEARING. This is a great reason alone for opting in on Chiropractic care! By working to create that balance and tone within the pelvis and the tissues that attach to it as mentioned above, this creates a smoother passage for a baby to pass through. This significantly helps to reduce the likelihood of tearing from natural births and reduces the need for surgical intervention like emergency C-section, forceps or ventouse. Huge win for Mama, huge win for Baby!

4. PRENATAL SPECIFIC EXERCISES. All of our Organic Chiropractors are required to have done additional training in prenatal care to ensure that outside of the office you can work on your body to help you to adapt more comfortably to pregnancy as well as to create optimal room for baby growth regardless of if you are aiming for a natural or C-section birth.

5. SYMPTOM MANAGEMENT THROUGH PREGNANCY. From heartburn, nausea, cramping, energy issues, sleep issues and a whole range of pregnancy related aches and pains, we've got you covered. The earlier you get checked, the more we will be able to help manage the fun (!!!) parts of your pregnancy and get you comfortable quickly! Let's make sure you enjoy your pregnancy, whether it's your first child or your 10th!

These are just our top 5 reasons amongst the 100 million gazillion more there are out there! For any questions, drop us an email at hello@organicfamilychiropractic.com

To find out more about Organic Family Chiropractic just click HERE

Stay Healthy, Stay Happy

-Dr Kylie xo

Organic Family Tribe Leader

References:

(1) Fallon J DC. The Effect of Chiropractic Treatment on Pregnancy and Labour: A Comprehensive Study. Proceedings of the World Federation of Chiropractic, 1991: 24-31.

(2) Barham- Floreani J DC. Well Adjusted Babies. Vitality Production Pty Ltd. 2007.