THERE is an increased interest for chiropractic care among pregnant women who are realising the benefits of regular adjustments, as they prepare for safer, easier birthing.

With the increased interest in natural birthing, and in an effort to avoid having a C-section, a growing number of expectant mothers have incorporated chiropractic care into their prenatal care. To understand how chiropractic care can contribute to a better birth, it is important to look at the mother’s and baby’s biomechanics throughout pregnancy.

As a mother’s weight increases, her centre of gravity shifts outward and her postural compensations respond accordingly. Additionally, the ligament laxity necessary for birthing adds to instability in all her joints, including her spine and pelvis.

The potential for damage during pregnancy and the post-partum period to a woman’s neuro-musculoskeletal structure is great. Shifts in the centre of gravity, forward and slightly upwards, destabilise her posture and realign the carriage of weights and forces through her joints, predisposing nerves, muscles, bones, and connective tissues to damage. Increased levels of relaxin and elastin further aggravate this situation.

Changes during pregnancy

These hormonal and structural changes can lead to spinal and pelvic misalignment and the lower back pain many women experience during pregnancy. The misalignment of the spine and pelvis has a crucial consequence to mother and developing child. These insidious blockages cause stress overload to the mother’s nervous system, potentially impairing her vital systems and organs. During pregnancy, any interference to the nerve transmission supporting function can be detrimental to health and well-being. Reducing this nerve system stress is a key ingredient for normal bodily function.

Another effect of spinal and pelvic misalignment throughout pregnancy is a condition called intrauterine constraint. To understand this, it is important to look at the mother’s anatomy and see the relationship between her pelvic biomechanics and the baby’s positioning. The mother’s pelvis has various key ligaments attached that support her uterus. As the baby grows, their role becomes increasingly important. If her pelvis is in biomechanical balance, the uterus will be supported symmetrically. This allows the baby optimal room for movement in utero and provides it the opportunity to develop free of constraint.

Conversely, if the woman’s sacrum or major triangular bone in her pelvis is out of alignment, it will affect the alignment of her entire pelvis. Misalignment of the pelvis will create an uneven pulling effect on the uterine ligaments, which explains why some women feel sensitivity on one side more than the other. Intrauterine constraint can create torsion in the uterus, limiting available space for the developing baby. This can inhibit the development of the baby’s spine.

Gross misalignment conditions like torticollis create excessive stress to the baby’s developing neuromuscular system, and can impair his nervous system and adversely affect virtually any of the body’s systems and functions.

Intrauterine constraint not only compromises foetal positioning, but can also impair the future health of the baby. The optimal position for birth is anterior vertex which is rear-facing, head down. When a baby presents breech or posterior, it often is the result of an imbalance in the mother’s pelvis, forcing the baby to assume a compromised position.

The body’s intelligence wants the easiest route of delivery. If the mother’s biomechanics are compromised, obstetric interventions are more likely to be recommended and implemented. Each and every intervention has significant side effects for both mother and baby. Many drugs and procedures are used “off label”, meaning the FDA has not approved them for their obstetric application. Furthermore, such interventions are often not evidence-based, and therefore their effectiveness is questionable, at best.

Interventions

All obstetrical interventions increase the risk of subsequent and more serious procedures. For example, with any intervention, such as the use of Pitocin or epidural anaesthesia, the risk of mechanical and surgical delivery multiplies substantially. These unnatural modes of delivery are risky and traumatic to both mother and baby.

The force used with forceps in mechanical delivery averages 40 to 60 pounds when used “properly”. Sometimes this force can reach levels of 100 pounds with difficult births. In certain studies, an average of 120 pounds of force caused decapitation. And 90 pounds of force caused decerebration, resulting in disseverance of the brain and spinal cord. Of course, both caused instant death.

Proper prenatal chiropractic care is a valuable tool to decrease the reliance on these invasive delivery procedures.

Medically classified birth trauma is when the baby has fractured clavicle and humeral bones, overt neuromuscular damage such as Erb’s and Bell’s palsy, or severe spinal cord injury.

Chiropractic classification of birth trauma is much more specific and distinct. Evidence of birth trauma is when the baby has misalignments to his or her spine affecting nerve system function. These less obvious traumas can be detected by doctors of chiropractic as soon as a child is born. The unique expertise of chiropractors can detect and correct these misalignments with a gentle touch to the baby’s spine. When parents understand the importance of nerve system function and the potential trauma of birth, they recognise the importance of having their infants checked.

Fortunately, today’s parents are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of the mother’s pelvic biomechanics throughout pregnancy. Giving it due attention will not only result in a more comfortable pregnancy, but will optimise the baby’s developing systems in utero and contribute toward achieving optimal foetal positioning for a safer and easier birth for both mother and baby – which, incidentally, makes the trek much more bearable for dad as well.

Your questions are invited and will be answered as space allows in this column. Email your chiropractic health questions to Dr Davis movethebone@gmail.com or dr.michael_harvey@yahoo.com and look for the answers in subsequent articles.