Regular chiropractic during pregnancy can relieve aches and pains.
When you are pregnant your body undergoes dramatic physical and hormonal changes that can affect your spine, nerves, ligaments, connective tissues and ultimately your entire body.
One of the most common complaints among pregnant women is low back pain. Medication such as pain killers are NOT an option because of the risk to the baby yet Chiropractic is a proven, safe and natural approach to ease back pain during pregnancy.
In fact one study showed that 56% of pregnant women suffer from back pain, especially between the 5th and 7th month. Women are often told low back pain is part of their pregnancy and it will go once they’ve given birth, studies show that in over 2 out of 3 women this is not the case, their back pain continues long after they’ve given birth. The outcomes from this study firmly support the importance of chiropractic care during pregnancy, complete relief was only found when treatment included joint/ chiropractic manipulation.
A further study highlights chiropractic as an effective form of care for women who suffer low back pain during pregnancy.
Results:
- 1% of cases demonstrated clinically significant improvement
- Average time to initial clinically significant pain relief was only 4.5 days after their first treatment
- In addition to this no adverse effects were reported in any of the cases
The results suggest that chiropractic care is not only extremely safe for women during pregnancy, but also that chiropractic is extremely effective for reducing low back pain during pregnancy.
The birth canal expands up to 28% during labour so if the pelvis is twisted or the joints are stiff the birth canal may not be able to expand as easily, making for a harder labour.
After delivery we recommend a chiropractic check-up within two weeks, At this time the ligaments have not re-stiffened, we can re-align the pelvis before they become “set”.
We can also give baby a check over too, they have just been through a big event and may need a gentle help adjusting to their new world!
Low back pain in pregnancy. Obstetrics and Gynecology 71: 1, 1988
Chiropractic Spinal Manipulation for Low Back Pain of Pregnancy: A Retrospective Case Series
Journal of Midwifery, Women’s Health 2006 (Jan); 51 (1): 7-10