Prenatal chiropractic care can help with many symptoms and problems that can come up during pregnancy. The nervous system of the body controls everything. During pregnancy the body releases a hormone called relaxin. Relaxin causes the ligaments in the body to loosen making the joints in the body more susceptible to becoming misaligned. If there are mis-alignments in the bones of the spine creating inflammation where the nerves exit the spinal cord, then whatever that nerve goes to can experience problems. For example: the nerves in the upper/mid back go to the stomach and when aligned properly can reduce heartburn/indigestion/morning sickness.
The biggest thing that Chiropractic can help with is making sure the pelvis is balanced and unrestricted which allows the baby to find the best position for birth. When looking for a chiropractor during pregnancy it is very beneficial to find one that is certified in the Webster Technique. A doctor who has gone through the Webster Training has received additional training specific to pregnancy and usually extra training in pediatric chiropractic as well. Dr Shaw is Webster Certified and has had excellent success in working with pregnant women.
After Pregnancy the body is still under the effects of relaxin and can benefit from Chiropractic adjustments to make sure the body stays balanced. The adjustments and nutritional supplementation can also help with proper milk production and patients have reported a reduction in post-partum depression.
Chiropractic care is also safe and very effective to help the newborn baby, especially if there was any sort of trauma during the labor or delivery. For more information on care during pregnancy or for children go to www.icpa4kids.com and search their site. There is an excellent, very detailed section in the Chiropractic Research Tab.
There are several causes for infertility and unfortunately chiropractic cannot help all of them. However, there have been many cases reported about people who have tried for many years to conceive and had been unable to get pregnant. When the couple finally went to the chiropractor there was found in either the man or the woman a large subluxation (misalignment) to the low back/sacrum. These couples reported that shortly after they started to go to the chiropractor they finally were able to conceive a baby. The nerves in the low back/sacrum area are responsible for the reproductive organs and if there is inflammation to those nerves the organs will not be able to function properly.
Another added benefit to the chiropractic adjustment especially to the upper neck or sacrum is that it increases the input into the parasympathetic nervous system (the rest and digest system) and allows the body to release stress. Many people today, especially couples who are unable to conceive are very stressed out at home, work, etc. When the stress gets high, the body releases a lot of cortisol into the body making the body ready to fight-or-flight. Many of the reproductive hormones are created from the same building blocks as the cortisol and when the body creates extra cortisol to deal with the stress then it is harder again for the couple to conceive.
Another issue with some couples struggling with infertility is toxicity or a nutritional deficiency. When there are too many toxins built up in the body from our environment (water, air, food, etc) or we do not have the proper nutrition, our bodies are unable to cope properly. Again this can lead to stress as mentioned above or a decrease in building blocks needed for the hormones of reproduction. So our advice if you are trying to conceive is this: get in and get checked out for spinal misalignments and a nutritional consult with Dr Shaw. For more information/research go to: http://www.icpa4kids.org/Chiropractic-Research/Infertility-/-Inability-to-Conceive/