Pregnancy and Chiropractic Care

Pregnancy is a time of rapid change and growth, for both the mother and the baby. Due to all these changes, the mother often experiences some form of pain or discomfort as her body attempts to adapt as best as it can to the many changes.

The most obvious change is the growing belly, which will throw off the mother’s centre of gravity, and creates postural changes that aren’t necessarily ideal. This often leads to a sore low back and neck, as the body attempts to correct this shift. The pelvis is also changing to prepare for delivery and this transition period can be quite uncomfortable. Even though medication can’t be used, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing that can be done for nine months. Chiropractic care facilitates a more comfortable transition from early to late term pregnancy and through to postpartum recovery.

As chiropractors, we will assess your spine and pelvic joints to see if there are areas that are not moving properly. We perform a complete history, orthopedic exam, neurological exam, and a postural exam to see how your body is adapting to your pregnancy. If we find that you have areas in your spine or pelvic joints are not moving properly, we usually adjust them.

The pelvic area is of great concern to chiropractors. The pelvis is essentially a ring made up of the sacrum, which is the triangular bone at the base of your spine, and the two hip bones of your pelvis. These bones are held together by many ligaments and connective tissue. Relaxin, the hormone of pregnancy, is released in the body from early on in the pregnancy to soften these ligaments to allow better passage of the baby during labour and birth. What often happens later on in the pregnancy is that the ligaments stretch more than is comfortable. The sacroiliac joints (where the sacrum meets the pelvis) can become quite movable and walking can become a challenge. 

Immediately after birth, your body experiences another great posture change and your back needs to adapt to not having a pregnant belly anymore. The posture of breastfeeding can cause great discomfort in both the midback and the upper back, especially between the shoulder blades. There is the constant lifting, bending, stooping, and breast feeding.

Adjustments result in easier pregnancy, significantly decreased mean labor time, and assists new mothers back to prepartum health. In one study, women receiving chiropractic care through their first pregnancy had 24% shorter labor times than the group not receiving chiropractic, and multiparous subjects reported 39% shorter labor times. In addition, 84% of women report relief of back pain during pregnancy with Chiropractic care. Since the sacroiliac joints of the pelvis function better, there is significant less likelihood of back labor when receiving chiropractic care through pregnancy.