Five months ago, Niki walked into my office at 8 weeks pregnant with massive migraines. She had been suffering from migraines before pregnancy and found that they were getting worse with each week of pregnancy. Niki also suffered from severe lower back and Sciatica pain, which made it difficult to walk and sleep through the night. “I searched for a pregnancy Chiropractor near me out of desperation,” she told me, “I don’t know if you can help.” Not wanting to take any pain medication, she began her Chiropractic care. After her first adjustment, the frequency of her migraines, lower back pain, and Sciatica pain started to decrease. By her third week of Chiropractic care, Niki shared, “My migraines, lower back pain, and Sciatica pain are completely gone, and I’m feeling great!”
As a prenatal Chiropractor who has been serving expecting mothers in Etobicoke for over 13 years, Niki’s story touches my heart, but it doesn’t surprise me. Far too many women suffer through pregnancy discomfort, believing it’s just part of the journey. I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be that way.
If you’re reading this and are experiencing pain or any discomfort, know that specialized pregnancy Chiropractic care can make your pregnancy a fantastic experience. Here is everything you need to know about finding and working with a Chiropractor for your pregnancy.
Understanding Your Changing Body: The Biomechanics of Pregnancy
What happens to your body when you go through pregnancy? This question will help us understand how and why pain and discomfort can occur, and how a prenatal Chiropractor can assist.
The Relaxin Effect
Around week 10 of pregnancy, your body starts producing a hormone called Relaxin. Relaxin is a hormone that does exactly what it sounds like. It prepares your body for delivery by relaxing your ligaments, allowing your pelvis to expand. While it does what it says it will do, it affects not only the ligaments in your pelvis but also all ligaments in your body. This is why during pregnancy, it is very common to experience pelvic pain, neck pain, and pain or discomfort in any part of the body.
For women who have had multiple pregnancies, their bodies are more prone to their spines going out of alignment. The effects of Relaxin are cumulative, with second and third pregnancies often experiencing greater ligament laxity. Your pubic symphysis (the joint at the front of your pelvis) can usually become unstable, causing difficulty with sitting, walking, and overall mobility.
Centre of Gravity Shifts
What happens as your baby grows within your womb? It is basically like having a bowling ball strapped to your belly. When that happens, your whole centre of gravity shifts forward.
This causes your body to compensate by:
- Increasing the curve in your lower back (lordosis)
- Rounding your shoulders forward
- Anterior (forward) pelvic tilt
Although these compensations may keep you upright, they often create strain throughout your entire spine. When examining pregnant patients, misalignments are usually found not only in the pelvis but in the neck and upper back.
The Pelvic Floor Connection
A good way to visualize your pelvis’s shape is by comparing it to a bowl. Your pelvis is a bowl, and at the bottom of the bowl, you have your Pelvic floor muscles. When your pelvis is misaligned, these muscles become weak and tight.
Pelvic floor dysfunction can lead to:
- Increased urgency and frequency of urination
- Pelvic pain and pressure
- Difficulty with postpartum recovery
The Webster Technique: A Game-Changer for Pregnancy
When patients search for a pregnancy Chiropractor, they often ask about the Webster Technique. Let’s take a look at this specialized approach and why it is considered adequate by hundreds of pregnant women who have utilized it.
The Webster Technique isn’t about turning breech babies (though that can happen as a result of better pelvis alignment). It’s about creating balance in your pelvis.
Dr. Larry Webster developed this technique specifically for pregnant women, focusing on:
- Sacral Adjustment: Your sacrum is the triangular bone at the base of your spine. During pregnancy, this needs to move freely to accommodate your growing baby. For the sacral adjustment, a gentle adjustment using a drop piece helps to restore proper motion to your sacrum and create more space for your baby.
- Round Ligament Release: Round ligaments connect your uterus to your pelvis. When they’re tight or twisted, they can cause sharp pains, especially with quick movements. The Webster Technique includes soft tissue work to release this tension and decrease the sharp pains.
- Balancing the Pelvis: By addressing both bones and soft tissues, we create a more balanced environment for your baby.
With Webster’s technique, there have been countless stories of pregnant women with a baby in transverse (sideways) position or breech position where the baby was able to move into a head-down position. Creating balance in your pelvis is the key to helping your baby grow in-utero without restraint, so that both pregnancy and labour can happen with ease.
Common Pregnancy Complaints and How Chiropractic Helps
As a Chiropractor specializing in pregnancy care, there are specific patterns of dysfunction that tend to happen during pregnancy.
Here are some of the most common conditions that occur during pregnancy:
Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD)
Remember Niki from earlier? At 29 weeks of pregnancy, she started to experience severe pain in her pubic symphysis. The reason is due to the increased growth of her baby (and belly) with her short stature, this puts a lot of pressure on this joint. The pubic symphysis is where your pubic bones meet in the front. During pregnancy, especially in the third or fourth trimester, this joint can become unstable and inflamed.
What it feels like:
- Sharp pain in the pubic area
- Difficulty walking, especially upstairs
- Pain when putting on pants or shoes
- A feeling like your pelvis might “come apart”
How Chiropractic helps: Through gentle adjustments, Chiropractic aligns the pelvis, reducing stress on the pubic symphysis. As part of care, at-home exercises are also taught to strengthen the surrounding muscles without aggravating the joint.
Round Ligament Pain
Have you ever experienced sharp, stabbing pains in your lower abdomen or groin? If so, you have experienced round ligament pain. These ligaments stretch from your uterus to your groin, and as your baby grows, they’re under constant tension.
Clarissa, a first-time mom, recently experienced round ligament pain, describing it as: “A sharp, stabbing pain every time I stand up too fast and when I sit.” After showing her specific stretches and performing gentle releases, she no longer experienced pain with sitting or standing.
Sciatica During Pregnancy
True Sciatica affects approximately 1% of pregnant women. Several pregnant women, however, experience what we call “Pseudo-Sciatica” from piriformis syndrome. Your piriformis muscle is located deep in your buttocks. When it’s tight or inflamed, it can irritate and cause compression of the Sciatic nerve.
Sandra experienced Sciatica during her pregnancy, which kept her from walking without pain. Through a combination of specific adjustments, soft tissue work, and targeted stretches, she was able to go back to enjoying daily walks within a few weeks.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
During pregnancy, a lot of women experience fluid retention, especially in their wrists. This can lead to compression of the median nerve, causing:
- Numbness and tingling in your hands
- Weakness in grip strength
- Pain that wakes you up at night
Chiropractic adjustments to the neck (the origin of where the nerves in the wrist begin), combined with stretches and exercises, can provide significant relief without the need for medication.
Trimester-by-Trimester: What to Expect from Your Prenatal Chiropractor
First Trimester (Weeks 1-13)
Chiropractic care during your first trimester is essential in supporting your health and can help ease common symptoms that typically occur during this window. During these weeks, I focus on:
- Establishing baseline spinal health: Addressing any pre-existing issues before your body changes dramatically
- Managing morning sickness: Neck and upper back adjustments can be extremely helpful with nausea
- Preparing your pelvis: Gentle adjustments ensure everything’s aligned before significant changes begin
Jessica came to me two months after the birth of her first son. She mentioned that she had terrible back pain during his pregnancy. She desired to eventually have another child, so wanting to be proactive about her health, she began regular Chiropractic care to work toward realigning her pelvis and spine. A year later, Jessica got pregnant with her second child and continued with regular Chiropractic adjustments throughout her first trimester. Her first trimester leading up to her labour and delivery was pain-free, and she was able to deliver her second son within a matter of minutes!
Second Trimester (Weeks 14-27)
This is typically when most women start searching for a “prenatal Chiropractor near me.” Your baby bump is showing, and those biomechanical changes we discussed earlier are in full swing!
Common focuses during this trimester:
- Maintaining spinal alignment as your centre of gravity shifts
- Addressing round ligament pain as your uterus expands
- Preventing lower back pain through regular care
- Supporting optimal baby positioning with the Webster Technique
Third Trimester (Weeks 28-40)
During the last trimester, your body prepares for delivery, making chiropractic care even more essential.
Key areas of focus:
- Pelvic alignment for optimal delivery: A balanced pelvis helps your baby get into optimal positioning
- Managing increased discomfort: As the baby grows, pressure on nerves and joints intensifies, leading to pain and discomfort
- Preparing for labour: Research shows Chiropractic care can help decrease labour time by up to 25% for first-time mothers.
- Improving sleep: Finding comfortable positions and reducing pain for better rest
The Safety Question: Addressing Your Concerns
If you’ve never seen a Chiropractor before and you are a first-time mother, I understand if you’re hesitant to see one. When Leah first called our Etobicoke clinic, she asked, “Is it safe to see a Chiropractor for pregnancy?” It’s a valid question and concern that needs to be addressed.
Pregnancy Chiropractic care is not only safe but recommended by many OBs and midwives. Here’s why:
- Modified Techniques: We utilize specialized pregnancy pillows that give you the comfort of lying face-down safely, with a cutout designed for your belly. No twisting or aggressive movements are used for your adjustments. Everything is adapted for your comfort and safety.
- Gentle Pressure: The amount of force used is minimal, comparable to checking a tomato for ripeness. A gentle drop technique can be used to realign your pelvis and spine. Your relaxed joints don’t need much to achieve alignment.
- Evidence-Based Care: Research shows Chiropractic care during pregnancy is safe and beneficial in supporting the health of both mother and baby, with no increased risk of adverse events.
Real Results: What You Can Expect
When you find the right pregnancy Chiropractor near me, what kind of results do you expect to see?
Based on my clinical experience and research:
Immediate Benefits (After 1-3 Visits)
- Decreased pain
- Better sleep
- Improved mobility
- Decreased muscle tightness
Medium-Term Benefits (4-8 Weeks)
- Significant decrease in pregnancy-related pain
- Better posture
- Optimal baby positioning
- Increased energy and better mood
Long-Term Benefits (Throughout Pregnancy)
- Decreased labour times
- Decreased need for interventions during birth
- Better postpartum recovery
- Comfortable pregnancy experience
Jessica started care with us before conception. As mentioned previously, she had suffered from severe back pain during her first pregnancy and wanted to be proactive in preparation for her second pregnancy. By her third trimester, she was experiencing pain-free days the majority of the time. She delivered vaginally in less than an hour of starting her contractions, had no intervention, and credits regular Chiropractic care for her amazing pregnancy and birthing experience.
Creating Your Pregnancy Wellness Team
As a seasoned Prenatal chiropractor, I believe in the importance of collaborative care to achieve the best results for your pregnancy. Your pregnancy wellness team may include:
- Your OB or midwife
- A Chiropractor for pregnancy
- A Massage Therapist trained in Prenatal massage
- A Pelvic Floor physiotherapist
- A Prenatal Yoga instructor
Communication with other health care providers during your pregnancy ensures that everyone can coordinate their care at every point of your pregnancy. This becomes crucial in specific scenarios where co-management of various healthcare practitioners becomes essential. For example, cases where a baby may be breech at 35 weeks create a lot of concern for mothers. It is in these scenarios that Chiropractors work closely together with midwives. Midwives monitor the baby’s position while Chiropractors focus on creating space through the Webster Technique. Oftentimes, the baby turns head-down, helping mothers to have more confidence in having a more comfortable labour and delivery.
Beyond Pain Relief: Preparing for Your Best Birth
While most women initially search for a pregnancy Chiropractor near me because of pain, the benefits extend far beyond symptom relief. Regular Chiropractic care during pregnancy can:
Optimize Baby Positioning
A balanced pelvis gives your baby the space to grow and move into the most optimal position for birth. When your sacrum is misaligned, it can create constraints in the uterus that can lead to breech or posterior presentations.
Enhance Nerve Function
Your nervous system controls every function in your body. It plays a very key role in helping you during labour. When your spine is aligned, nerve communication is optimized, which can lead to more efficient contractions and shorter labour.
Improve Pelvic Floor Function
Having a balanced pelvis keeps your pelvic floor muscles functioning optimally. This helps mothers significantly during both labour and delivery, as well as postpartum recovery.
Reduce Intervention Risk
Research shows that women under Chiropractic care have lower rates of interventions such as the use of forceps, vacuum extraction, and C-sections.
Your Next Steps: Finding the Right Chiropractor for Pregnancy
If you’re ready to experience the benefits of pregnancy Chiropractic care, here’s what to look for:
- Webster Certification: Ensure your Chiropractor is certified in the Webster Technique
- Pregnancy Experience: Ask how many pregnant patients they typically see
- Integrative/Collaborative Approach: Ask if they are willing to work with your birth team
- Comfort Level: Whatever your health concern, make sure that you feel heard, respected, and comfortable
At our Etobicoke Chiropractic clinic, we welcome the opportunity to be a part of your pregnancy wellness team. From our pregnancy pillows to our gentle techniques, everything is tailored to help support you through this incredible journey of giving birth to life!
A Personal Note from Dr. Clarise
After 13 years of serving as a Prenatal Chiropractor in Etobicoke, I’ve had the privilege of supporting hundreds of women through their pregnancy. Not one story is the same, but the common thread that connects them all is this: you do not have to suffer with pain and discomfort through what should be one of the most joyous experiences of your life.
Whether you’re dealing with debilitating neck pain, frustrating Sciatica, or desire to enhance your pregnancy experience, specialized prenatal Chiropractic care can help! The pregnant women who walk (or waddle) into my office often leave with more than relief of their pain and symptoms. They become empowered with the belief that they have what it takes to grow and deliver their baby.
If you’ve been searching for a “pregnancy Chiropractor near me,” I believe you are reading this article for a reason. Carrying life within your body is incredible work, and you are worthy of the support that honours that. Whether you’re in your first trimester and being proactive, or you’re 38 weeks and want to get out of pain, it’s never too early or too late to start prenatal Chiropractic care.
Ready to enhance your pregnancy experience? Contact our Etobicoke Chiropractic clinic today. Working together will make these days of motherhood even more joyful with less pain and discomfort. And remember that when you feel good, everyone benefits, including your precious little one that’s growing within.
Take the first step and book your prenatal Chiropractic assessment with us. Your body and little one will thank you for it!
