Chiropractic care and pregnancy

Pregnancy is amazing. The fact that your body can conceive a new human being, grow it, nourish it and then birth that human being into the world – is mind blowing. What makes pregnancy a little less super is all those other things: morning sickness, constipation, mood swings, heartburn, discomfort, ligament pain, back pain . . . actually, it’s a pretty big list for some. Other people are like pregnancy unicorns that don’t seem to get any of those ailments listed above which seems awfully unfair if you are the non-unicorn variety. However back pain, pubic symphysis pain, sciatica, hip pain and headaches are what pregnant ladies often present with in my office, and some of the other unpleasant side effects often resolve too.

I’m not going to rewrite the literature for you but instead I’ll direct you to some handy links about chiropractic and pregnancy. Great news is that heaps of lovely pregnant ladies, myself included, get great benefit from seeing a chiropractor during pregnancy. There are a lot of positives that have come out of the research that has been done so far – and that research is growing. Firstly – it’s safe. My personal preference, and that of many chiropractors who adjust pregnant ladies, will use low force techniques, or very gentle adjusting techniques as pregnant women naturally have lots of the hormone relaxin coursing through their bodies to make them supple for birth.

This study: Pregnancy and chiropractic: a narrative review of the literature is well worth reading all the way through as it discusses causes of low back pain during pregnancy, clinical studies on chiropractic care during pregnancy, mechanisms of relief of low back pain during pregnancy and safety of chiropractic care during pregnancy and the care of the baby and mother postpartum. It concludes that chiropractic is both a helpful and safe option for pregnant women.

This study: Chiropractic spinal manipulation for low back pain of pregnancy: a retrospective case series suggests that chiropractic treatment was safe and effective for reducing pain intensity.

This study: Chiropractic treatment of pregnancy-related low back pain: a systematic review of the evidence suggests that chiropractic care is associated with improved outcomes with regard to pregnancy related low back pain and that it is relatively common for chiropractic care to occur during pregnancy so better studies should be done.

This study: The treatment experience of patients with low back pain during pregnancy and their chiropractors: a qualitative study is a bit wordy but suggests that pregnant patients were satisfied with their chiropractic care in that they had reduced pain, improved range of motion and overall function.

Lastly, a picture of me, and my 3rd child birthed at home and this time, in the water. A handy reminder of why pregnancy and birth is so immensely awesome – what we get out of it is pretty freaking awesome too.