Johnson Chiropractic
Prenatal Chiropractic
It is now more and more common for pregnant women to regard chiropractic care as an essential part of a healthy pregnancy. Keeping your spine free from the vertebral subluxation complex is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your developing fetus if you are pregnant.
If subluxations are present the chiropractor will correct them with a chiropractic spinal adjustment in order to release the spinal stress. Without subluxations the body will function better, have a higher resistance to disease and in general be healthier than a body with uncorrected subluxations. This is the essential message of chiropractic.
Chiropractic care is especially attractive to pregnant women because it is a drugless health care system. Drugs of any sort can harm the growing fetus. There is no such thing as a safe drug. From aspirin to antibiotics, there is a laundry list of substances that can impact the health of both mother and fetus and that should be avoided at all costs.
Invasive diagnostic procedures such as x-rays and ultrasound should also be avoided if possible.
Chiropractic care has had a positive impact on some of the areas of most concern to pregnant women or women who want to become pregnant:
First of all chiropractic can help women become pregnant and maintain pregnancy, control vomiting, deliver full-term infants with ease, and produce infants healthier than the normal population.
Here is a sampling of practitioners’ comments on the effectiveness of spinal care for pregnant women from the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association:
“For normal patients, correction of vertebral subluxations definitely helps normal function and rehabilitation. Manipulation can be of great value in normalizing the body functions of women with problems of pregnancy such as toxemia.” ¹
“Manipulative therapy…normalizes functions of the pituitary, adrenal, ovarian, and placental systems, including the craniosacral respiratory mechanisms. This shortens the labor by 50 to 60 percent and lessens medication requirement by at least 50 percent…Postpartum depression is a rarity in patients receiving…manipulative therapy.” ²
Chiropractic care should be used as preventative maintenance during pregnancy. Periodic spinal checkups should be as common as periodic weight checkups.
A woman’s body goes through many physical and chemical changes during pregnancy including a change in her center of gravity. Many are startled to learn that a woman’s spinal structure becomes more flexible due to hormonal changes which relax the ligaments in the pelvis, preparing them for stretching during childbirth. Conversely, there is a possibility that this state can provide for both an opportunity for easier spinal corrections and a situation that might aggravate spinal problems. In any case, it is a good time to be visiting your chiropractor!
It is safe and easy to receive chiropractic adjustments during pregnancy. It has been shown to be effective in reducing or bypassing postpartum depression. Adjustments can be received even during labor, and an innovative new technique called the Webster Breech Technique has been developed whereby breech presentations can be corrected naturally using chiropractic.
Babies and infants as young as a few hours old have been given chiropractic checkups and adjustments if needed.
The birth process may be one of the most traumatic events of an individual’s life. Even natural birthing methods can stress a still developing spine. This can be the cause of many newborn health complaints. Colic, unexplained crying, poor appetite, breathing problems, and allergies can all be traced to a malfunctioning spine.
The bumps and falls experienced during the period following the baby’s first few steps should be followed by chiropractic checkups. If ignored, problems developed now may lead to serious spinal deformities later in life.
Chiropractic adjusting techniques for infants and children are modified to fit a child’s size, weight, and unique spinal problem. Parents often report that their kids seem healthier than other kids their age.
¹ Reynolds, J.P. "What is the role of osteopathic manipulative therapy in obstetric care? For
normal patients? For patients with problems?" Journal of the A.O.A., 1974, 74.
² Guthrie, R.A. & Martin, R.H. "Effect of pressure applied to the upper thoracic (placebo)
versus lumbar areas (osteopathic manipulative treatment) for inhibition of lumbar myalgia
during labor." Journal of A.O.A., 82 (4), pp. 247-251.
Information courtesy of the following publications and their publishers: "Children and the
Chiropractic Lifestyle," Back Talk Systems, Inc., 1995; and "Pregnancy & Chiropractic," Koren Publications, Inc., 1995.
Johnson Chiropractic
2210 Omro Road, Suite A
(1st stoplight west of Highways 21 & 41)
Oshkosh, WI 54904
(920) 426-4200
