Pregnancy Care
Pregnancy is a period of rapid change and these changes can place a large strain on a pregnant woman’s body. Some of these changes include:
- Significant hormonal changes including an increase in relaxin, a hormone responsible for creating laxity in the supportive connective tissues of the pelvis and spine. This allows for the pelvis to expand and make room for the growing baby.
- Significant weight gain that increases demand on the spinal and pelvic musculature, increases stress on spinal and pelvic ligaments and increases stress on the vertebral and pelvic joints.
- An increase in the thoracic and lumbar spinal curves which increases strain and load on the spinal ligaments and muscles.
- Significant change in weight distribution that again increases the demand on the spinal joints, ligaments and muscles.
These changes can result in a pregnant woman suffering from symptoms such as low back pain, headaches, pelvic pain and more. Chiropractic care can provide effective and safe treatment to alleviate these and many other common pregnancy discomforts.
Achieving balance during pregnancy with Chiropractic care
Chiropractic care can also help to establish pelvic balance and alignment, maximising the amount of room available for the developing baby. When the pelvis is misaligned, it may reduce the amount of space available to the baby – this type of restriction is called intrauterine constraint. A misaligned pelvis may also impede the baby’s ability to get into the best possible position for delivery. Research has shown that chiropractic care during pregnancy can reduce the duration of labour by up to 25%, which is a significant benefit not only for the expectant mother but for the baby as well.
Too much information? We can help.
At The Bod Squad, we are passionate about the care of pregnant women. In addition to offering a safe and effective method to treat the physical complaints of the pregnant patient, we also hold intermittent Birthing Skills Classes. These classes are designed to help consolidate the sizeable amount of information a pregnant woman is exposed to and transform them into a useful skills set that you can take confidently into your labour. As well as this, our resident dietitian and nutritionist regularly provides help to patients affected by weight gain, an inability to eat, gestational diabetes or simply wanting to maximise the nutritional value to their growing baby. And for our mums to be who enjoy a good massage we have our wonderful massage therapist to support their chiropractic care and to ease away their stresses.
At the Bod Squad, we understand and respect the pregnant woman’s body. Accordingly, we always treat presenting symptoms with the appropriate techniques designed to maximise recovery while taking into account her ever changing body and the many demands being placed on it.
We’ve been there too and would love to help.
So if you have a symptom for which you need treatment, if you want to maximise your body’s capabilities throughout pregnancy or if you would like to attend one of our classes, please call our clinic. We would love to help you through this most exciting and challenging time of your life.
References: Back Talk Systems 2006
www.americanpregnancy.org
www.mtelizachiropractic.com.au/content/pregnancy