Chiropractic and Birth

Serving pregnant women and kiddos in our office is a high priority because we know birth is tough work for both mothers and babies. There is nothing as sacred as being invited to journey alongside a mother throughout her pregnancy and then to get to check a baby after birth. 

With our modern birth practices and the normal compressive forces of the delivery process, there is a lot of pressure put onto an infant’s body as they enter into the world. A study by Viola Frymann, DO revealed nearly 90% of all newborns suffer from side effects of birth trauma which is commonly presented through a strain on the neck and cranial areas during the birthing process. Within Frymann’s study, only 10% of the newborns surveyed had perfect mobile skills and mechanics while 10% had severe trauma to the head. The remaining 80% demonstrated some strain patterns.

From this study, it is evident that although the birthing process is a beautiful miracle, it often results in trauma which when left untreated, can lead to further health concerns for infants. We most often notice a favoring of one looking one direction or resistance to moving the head to one side. More specifically, the trauma can affect the growth and development of the infant’s spine or cranium, nursing difficulties, sleep disturbances, and the inability to be soothed and settled.

We love checking women after giving birth to support their recovery. We also know the importance of checking a baby's spine for any pressure in the upper neck. Most commonly a misalignment happens at the top bone, the atlas vertebrae. Think about being able to correct stress on your spine only days after the stress first happened. Most of us have been accumulating stress and strain on our spines for decades! Checking a baby’s spine uses the amount of pressure used to check if a tomato is ripe, so gentle that most babies sleep right through it!

Frymann V. Relation of disturbances of craniosacral mechanism to symptomatology of the newborn:study of 1250 infants. JAOA. 1966;65:1059-1075.