4 Ways Chiropractic Care Can Help During Pregnancy

Originally posted on Family Chiropractic Plus. 

"There is no doubt a woman experiences a plethora of changes during pregnancy. The physical and emotional changes that occur are impressive. In fact, the physical changes seem to include every system in the body.

For many pregnant women, aches and pains in the lower back and hips are part of the experience. In fact, approximately 50 percent of pregnant women will experience back pain at some point before they deliver. As the body goes through the changes during and following pregnancy, chiropractic care can help.

Changes In Body Due To Pregnancy

• There are many hormonal and physical changes experienced during pregnancy. Some of these will have an impact on posture and comfort. As the baby becomes heavier, the center of gravity shifts and the posture adjusts accordingly.
• These physical changes during your pregnancy can lead to a misaligned spine or joints. These changes may include a protruding abdomen resulting in an increased curve of your back, changes to your pelvis as your body begins to prepare for labor, and adaptations to your posture.

How Chiropractic Can Help During Pregnancy

1. Posture. Many women have issues with back pain during pregnancy due to the extra weight they must carry in the front of their body. The protruding abdomen can increase the curve in the back and cause pain and posture issues. Chiropractors can restore proper posture, and prevent the stress of pregnancy on the body from causing long-term pain and posture issues.
2. Ease symptoms and pain from pregnancy. Designed to keep your spine in alignment, chiropractic care can help prevent and relieve back pain associated with pregnancy. Chiropractic can help ease pregnancy symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting. It doesn’t work for all women, but chiropractic is one way to try to get some relief from morning sickness. An adjustment will help nausea and vomiting if they are due in part to nerves pinched by out-of-place vertebrae.
3. Overall health maintenance and position for baby. Chiropractic care ensures a healthy immune system for both mom and baby, whose immune systems are very intimately connected during pregnancy. If moms hips and lower spine are out of place, the baby’s position may not be ideal. Chiropractic adjustments may help get baby in the proper position, by ensuring that there are no vertebrae out of place.
4. Benefit during labor and childbirth. Chiropractic adjustments can help shorten labor and make the birth process easier. If there is proper alignment in the spine and hips, and if all the nerves to the muscles and organs in her body are free and healthy, then labor and birth can move along more easily and may even take less time than without chiropractic care."

Learn more about the ways chiropractic care can help during pregnancy at Family Chiropractic Plus.