Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy

Pregnancy often comes with a host of aches and pains, but because these are common to pregnancies, it does not mean you need to suffer through them. On the contrary, seeing a chiropractor during pregnancy is a proven safe and effective method for helping alleviate the pain and discomfort associated with some pregnancies. What’s more, the range of benefits of chiropractic care during pregnancy far exceeds essential pain relief.

Prenatal Chiropractors help pregnant women with more than back pain.

Expecting mothers experiencing discomfort during pregnancy can benefit from seeing a prenatal chiropractor for more than just back pain.   A prenatal chiropractor is an expert healthcare professional that also provides treatment for various other conditions during pregnancy, such as sciatica, insomnia, constipation, and morning sickness.

Prenatal chiropractors specialize in helping pregnant women find relief during this time and have tailored treatments to support the expecting mother throughout her pregnancy and beyond.

At Ravenswood Chiropractic in Chicago, our prenatal chiropractors may also recommend prenatal massage with one of our certified prenatal massage therapists or acupuncture in your treatment recommendations.

WEBSTER TECHNIQUE: A SPECIALIZED CHIROPRACTIC TECHNIQUE FOR PREGNANCY

Although all nationally board-certified chiropractors are well trained and educated to care for a pregnant woman’s needs, some chiropractors have undertaken advanced training and are certified in a specialized chiropractic technique specially designed for expecting moms. For example, Webster-certified chiropractors, such as at Ravenswood Chiropractic in Chicago, use this Webster technique.  The webster-certified chiropractor helps relieve all the pregnancy-related pain prenatal chiropractors do but also focuses on pelvic health, providing the best care to promote healthy pelvic alignment and muscle tone.

This Webster Technique focus positively affects Position, Power, and Passage.

When your pelvis is aligned correctly, the ligaments and muscles can move and function optimally. This promotes more room for the baby to move, grow, and get into the optimal position for birth without intervention. Healthy functioning pelvic muscles also result in more power. When the mother is more comfortable and has optimally functioning pelvic structure and muscles, she naturally has more power in her pelvis while carrying the baby, during delivery, as well s post-partum.

Furthermore, when your pelvis is aligned, and your pelvic muscles and ligaments work optimally, you are also promoting the best passage available for your baby to be born. Webster-certified chiropractors do this by performing gentle adjustments to restore normal function and movement to the pelvic structures to reduce tension on the pelvic muscles and ligaments. This is important because if the pelvis is not balanced, the uneven pulling on ligaments and muscles can potentially prevent the baby from getting into the optimal position for birth. This is why many pregnant women seek Webster-certified chiropractors during their pregnancy.

 

Benefits of Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy

Natural Pain Relief

The most common reason women seek chiropractic care during pregnancy is to relieve pain. The most common conditions include pregnancy-related back pain,especially low-back and pelvic pain, upper back, and joint pain in other areas, such as your feet.

Joint pain is common during pregnancy because a woman’s posture changes to adapt to the growing baby. During this rapid change, your ligaments begin to loosen to prepare your pelvis for delivery with the help of the relaxin hormone that is released as your due date approaches. These pelvic changes cause an increased curvature in your low back. All these changes can cause back pain, neck pain, joint pain, stiffness, and foot pain.

Chiropractic adjustments relieve pain caused by these postural adaptations, pelvic changes, spinal misalignments, foot pain, and joint stiffness, as well as help maintain joint mobility.

Benefits of Getting Chiropractic Care When Pregnant May Include A More Comfortable Delivery

Prenatal chiropractors can help pregnant women remain comfortable and healthy during their pregnancies. Through gentle adjustments to their spine, hips, and pelvis, prenatal chiropractors can help correct misalignments resulting from the body shifting to accommodate the growing baby. In addition, regular chiropractic care during pregnancy helps improve a pregnant woman’s center of gravity, making labor more manageable and faster, which is a nice benefit.

Chiropractic Care When Pregnant May Reduce the Time of Labor and Delivery

Seeing a chiropractor during pregnancy can help to properly align and support the mother’s pelvis, reducing back labor from occurring by making sure that a baby’s head is pressing against the front of the pelvis instead of the sacrum. This helps to create ample room for delivery, shortening time in labor overall.

Many expecting mom asks us: Can chiropractic help with a breech presentation?

Prenatal chiropractors do not treat breech presentation, but they make specialized gentle adjustments to the mother’s pelvis so that it is in proper alignment, resulting in the baby having enough room to move naturally. In many cases, the baby moves into the best possible position for delivery on its own after the mother has Webster Technique adjustments to align her pelvis. In fact, in a recent study published in The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, extrapolates this success rate is around 82%.

Chiropractic care during pregnancy may provide the benefit of fewer interventions being needed during delivery.

Webster-certified chiropractors focus on restoring muscle tone and function to the pelvis and reducing nerve system stress, which naturally results in the pelvis having more power during pregnancy. In addition, chiropractic adjustments aim to establish pelvic balance, allowing the baby room to grow and get into position for delivery. This also reduces low back and pelvic pain during pregnancy and the likelihood of back labor and dystocia (difficult labor).

When the uterus has power, and the passage is open and flexible while the mother is comfortable, it decreases the need for interventions during delivery.

 

To summarize, the benefits of chiropractic care during pregnancy may include:

• Relief of pain and discomfort in the back, neck and joints
• Reducing labor and delivery time
• Reducing instances of breech position and the need for a Cesarean delivery
• Reducing the risk caused by restricted space in the uterus due to a misaligned pelvis
• Generally maintaining a healthier pregnancy
• Reduces interference to the mother’s vital nerve system, which coordinates all body systems and functions

When a mother’s body is healthy and functioning normally, it helps reduce pain and discomfort. This creates an optimal environment for the baby to grow and reduces the risk of a difficult labor.

Safety of Chiropractic and Pregnancy

Of course, the big question on most women’s minds is: Is chiropractic safe during pregnancy? And the answer, in a word, is: YES.

Of course, contraindications to prenatal chiropractic care exist, and when those are present such as unexplained bleeding or pre-eclampsia, we refer you to an ob-gyn medical team for consideration; however, absent those conditions, chiropractic care during pregnancy is safe & effective.

That said, we always advise our patients to consult their birth team for all healthcare decisions, including receiving chiropractic care when pregnant. At our office, we coordinate the chiropractic care you receive in our office with the rest of your birth team upon your request.

Safety of Chiropractic care during pregnancy is a conversation.

Discuss Prenatal Chiropractic Safety With Your Chiropractor.

Before beginning chiropractic care during pregnancy, discussing safety measures with your practitioner is essential. Some questions to ask include: What type of table is used? Does the table have a unique cut-out for pregnant women? Are there any specific pregnancy adjustments that can be made for comfort and safety? Talking with your chiropractor about these topics before beginning treatment can make you feel more confident about your care.

At Ravenswood Chiropractic in Chicago, we use a specialized table, cushioning, and positioning for our pregnant patients. In addition, our massage therapists are certified in prenatal massage, and our chiropractors have an additional certification in Webster-Technique.

 

It’s important that any questions or worries you have about chiropractic care while pregnant should be discussed with your primary doctor and your prenatal chiropractor.

In conclusion, chiropractic care during pregnancy is not only a safe and proven method of relieving the pain and discomfort of pregnancy, but experts widely recommend chiropractic as a regular part of your pregnancy care to help maintain a healthy pregnancy.

We Make Getting The Prenatal Care You Need Easy

If you would like to have your health insurance coverage for prenatal chiropractic care pre-verified by our patient service team for free and at no obligation to you before you schedule your appointment please click here to submit your insurance information and we will get back to you within one business day.

Additional Payment Options include Flex Spending and Health Savings Accounts as well as our ChiroHealth Discount Program and CareCredit, both of which you can apply for at the time of your visit or by clicking the links above which will take you directly to the page with more information and how to apply.

Take Charge of Your Health and Ask Questions

If you aren’t ready to schedule your first prenatal chiropractic appointment yet, consider scheduling a free chiropractic consultation.   A free, no obligation, 15 minute consultation is an excellent way for you to meet with one of our chiropractic physicians and ask questions about our prenatal chiropractic care services to see if they are right for you.    You can also call or text us at 773.878.7330, our patient care team is happy to help and answer questions.

Post-Natal Wellness Plans Should not Be Neglected

Choosing to see a prenatal chiropractor during pregnancy can be a great way to help with the aches and pains that come along with carrying a baby. Your chiropractor will be able to evaluate your posture and spine alignment in specific ways and recommend things that can help – like massage therapy, acupuncture, and more – to ease your discomfort. They may even make suggestions such as better sleep positions.

After the baby is delivered, there is a significant adjustment from carrying the baby in your belly to carrying the baby in your arms. This puts additional strain on other areas of your body while you are trying to heal and replenish from the pregnancy and delivery. In addition, your new responsibilities as a mom may leave you exhausted, further impairing your body’s healing. However, your chiropractic care does not end when the baby is delivered. At Ravenswood Chiropractic in Chicago, we provide post-natal support for new moms. Everything from promoting healing, continuing the natural drug-free pain relief, acupuncture for lactation, post-natal massage, and a little further in recovery, we help heal diastasis recti and further assist you in your health goals, whatever they may be.

Are you looking for a prenatal chiropractor in Chicago?

Ravenswood Chiropractic & Wellness Center offers experienced and compassionate chiropractors trained to care for pregnant women. It is never too late in your pregnancy to get the benefits or receive prenatal chiropractic care. Schedule your free consultation today.

3 Easy Ways to Get Started:

When to Start Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy

Prenatal chiropractic care is an effective way for expectant mothers to address the aches and pains associated with pregnancy. As soon as a woman is confirmed pregnant, she can consult with her obstetrician and her chiropractor about getting chiropractic care during pregnancy. This is the best way to prevent discomfort from progressing into more severe pain.
A prenatal chiropractor is an experienced healthcare provider who can assess and address changes to the body’s postural, skeletal, muscular, and nervous systems resulting from pregnancy. They can help pregnant women get relief from common pregnancy discomforts such as back pain, joint pain, neck stiffness, restriction, headaches, and fatigue. Even in the last stage of pregnancy, a chiropractor can positively impact the baby’s positioning if the baby has not yet settled into the head-down position before the due date.

How Often to See a Chiropractor During Pregnancy

The frequency of chiropractic treatment sessions can vary depending on your individual needs and may evolve as your pregnancy progresses. But, generally speaking, many women find that scheduling more frequent adjustments towards the end of their pregnancy helps them stay physically prepared for labor.
Prenatal care from a chiropractor generally begins in the first trimester and can continue until delivery. Typically, an expecting mom may schedule monthly visits during the first trimester, every two to three weeks up until the last month of pregnancy, and then weekly visits until delivery.

Choosing Ravenswood Chiropractic in Chicago During Pregnancy

With our Webster Certifications and years of experience in treating pregnant women, Ravenswood Chiropractic in Chicago is focused on creating the perfect environment for babies, while improving maternal comfort. We believe in a holistic approach and often incorporate prenatal and postnatal massage therapy with acupuncture into our treatment plans to address a wide variety of pregnancy-related issues such as: back pain, headaches, pelvic imbalance and morning sickness. This is done naturally and without medication. Speak to one of our expert team members today to schedule your appointment, or book an appointment online.

We encourage all mothers to receive regular chiropractic care during pregnancy to be in the best possible health during pregnancy, delivery and post-delivery. It is never too late to start chiropractic care and get the wonderful benefits of a balanced pelvis for pregnancy and delivery.

We empower you to trust your body’s innate potential for normal and natural function during pregnancy, labor and delivery.

Dr. Renn participated in a hospital birth of his oldest daughter and home birth of his youngest daughter. He has a great deal of experience working with pregnant women at all stages of pregnancy. If you’re concerned about how to relieve back pain or other symptoms during your pregnancy, a chiropractor may be able to help. Contact Ravenswood Chiropractic & Wellness Center today to make an appointment.

Benefits of Chiropractic During Pregnancy Are in the Numbers

A study involving 11 women meeting the criteria for sacroiliac joint dysfunction was published in the Family Practice Research Journal in 1991. The 11 women underwent chiropractic treatment of the sacroiliac joints. Upon the study’s conclusion, 10 of 11 women had experienced pain relief and no longer exhibited signs of sacroiliac joint dysfunction.

Within the Journal of Manipulative Physiologic Therapeutics in 1991, a study showed 84% of patients receiving chiropractic treatment reported relief of back pain during pregnancy. In addition, there was a significantly lower likelihood of back labor when spinal manipulative therapy was used during pregnancy.

The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association in 1982 highlighted a study of 500 women during labor. Of the 500 participants, 352 experienced pain in the lower back during labor. Chiropractic relief of pressure to the lower back area during labor reduced the need for major narcotic pain medication and minor tranquilizing medication.

A 2012 review published in the African Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health examining 12 studies into the benefits of chiropractic and pregnancy found that “chiropractic treatment can offer relief to women with musculoskeletal complaints.”