{Disclosure: We have partnered with Seasons Family Chiropractic to talk to you about both the benefits of seeing a prenatal chiropractor during pregnancy and the benefits for infants and children seeing a pediatric chiropractor. Some of the top prenatal and pediatric chiropractic clinics in the metro can be found here.}
41 weeks and 3 days pregnant. As I sat down with my midwives for yet another appointment, they began to go through the familiar list of questions. Headaches? No. Heartburn? No. Dizziness? No.
And then came my favorite question to answer throughout the pregnancy – Back pain? NO. Throughout my entire pregnancy, at each and every appointment, I was able to answer that I had zero back pain. I think that’s quite remarkable considering that my body gains about 40 pounds during pregnancy and it looks like I’m walking around with a giant bowling ball strapped to the front of my body!
{Photo credit: AMG Photography}
I attribute this gift of good health and zero back pain to prenatal chiropractic care. Throughout my pregnancy I visited the chiropractor weekly, and during the last month of my pregnancy, I increased my appointments to twice a week. Chiropractic care helped keep me limber and assisted my body in adjusting to its ever-changing pregnant state.
Not only that, but when my little girl decided to move from her optimal head down position to transverse at around 34 weeks, my chiropractor worked with me to ensure my pelvis was aligned properly and there were no tight muscles preventing her from getting back down where she was supposed to be. After a few weeks of continued treatment, our little girl moved once again to the head down position with no painful version needed.
When it came time for her to be born, she made her way into the world in less than three hours. YES, my entire labor from start to finish was under three hours. To be honest, I’m still in shock, and I again thank prenatal chiropractic care for keeping my body in optimal health, allowing it to work as efficiently and effectively as possible to birth our little girl. We named her Freya, and I lovingly call her “Fast and Furious Freya.” “Fast” because of how quickly she came into the world, and “Furious” because…well…when we first met, she was pretty cranky.
When Freya was born, she took a few moments to let out her first cry, and then she didn’t stop. She screamed and hollered in a big huge voice, so much so that when the midwives were speaking to me and giving me instructions, I had to ask them multiple times to repeat themselves because Freya was SO LOUD and furious.
My husband and I took her to the chiropractor when she was five days old and got her adjusted, along with the rest of our family. When she was examined, the chiropractor said that she had never seen a tighter lower back on one of her patients in all of her years as a chiropractor. Now we understood where the Furious was coming from – our little girl was in pain from a tight, relatively immobile lower back. We walked away with stretches to help our daughter over the next few days, and instructions to return in three days for another appointment.
As we began doing the stretches at home, we noticed increased mobility in her lower back. When we returned with her three days later, it was obvious she was improving quickly. After more adjustments that day, she seemed happier, fussed less, and slept for longer stretches at a time. Our Furious little girl (who, quite frankly, scared me and made me start researching colic), transformed into a happy, even-tempered baby and also an excellent sleeper. I’m grateful we had access to chiropractic care for her at such a young age. It made a huge difference in her life and the life of our family.
Now that she’s here, I’m finding my body needs new and different adjustments. Nursing this frequent eater while caring for my older two children has me in all sorts of funky positions. I don’t always think about my posture, so my weekly visits to the chiropractor keep my body in alignment even when I’m not so thoughtful about how I’m using it. I’m grateful that chiropractic care can help me feel my best through all of the various seasons of motherhood.
If you’re ready to explore what prenatal and pediatric chiropractic care can do for your family, be sure to check out Season’s website to find great chiropractic care near you. Many free workshops are offered through Seasons Family Chiropractic, so be sure to follow them on Facebook to get the latest updates.
