Chiropractic During Your Pregnancy: What to Expect

Chiropractic is a highly successful add-on therapy for pregnancy that can help to promote a healthy birth. Chiropractic care may be beneficial at almost every stage of pregnancy, both to the baby’s health and the mother-to-be’s well-being.

Good health is essential during pregnancy. A healthy mother-to-be means a healthy baby. There are many things a pregnant woman can do to maintain her health, including chiropractic care. Below is a complete description of the chemical and hormonal changes that occur during each stage of pregnancy, and the ways that chiropractic care can help to address each of these changes.

In order to remain balanced and healthful during the pregnancy journey, having a comprehensive understanding of the changes taking place within your body can be most helpful. Read on to discover how chiropractic care can support your changing body during each stage of this life-changing time. Feel free to pass this article along to the loved ones who are also supporting you during this time!

1st Trimester (Week 1 – 12)

Expectant moms are undergoing the first physical changes due to pregnancy during this trimester. The hormonal shifts in a pregnant body over the course of weeks 1 through 12 cause significant physical changes, edema, discomfort, and sensitivity.

Hormone changes that take place throughout the first trimester of pregnancy:

Estrogen:

• Promotes the development of new blood vessels, which will transport nutrients to the baby. Nausea is frequently experienced during the first trimester as a result of increasing estrogen levels.

Progesterone:

• Progesterone levels are at their highest during the first trimester of pregnancy, when they surge to assist the mother’s body tolerate foreign DNA. Progesterone inhibits estrogen’s effect by preventing uterine tissue growth from becoming excessive.

Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Hormone (hCG):

• The baby gets the nutrients it needs to grow and develop through hCG. Levels are highest during the first trimester of pregnancy, when they can cause nausea and vomiting.

Human Placental Lactogen (hPL):

• hPL is made by the placenta and helps to regulate the mother’s metabolism, ensuring that nutrients are available for the baby.

Relaxin:

• Relaxin is a potent pregnancy hormone that causes the body’s joints, ligaments, and tissues to relax. This hormone is non-discriminatory, which means it loosens joints and ligaments all across the body, often causing discomfort in the pelvic region, hips, and joints.

Oxytocin:

• Oxytocin, like relaxin, is a hormone that helps to prepare the cervix for delivery. Oxytocin levels decrease in the first trimester and increase throughout the second trimester before peaking near the end of the third trimester.

Available Chiropractic Care:

Fluctuations in hormone levels throughout the first trimester of pregnancy can produce discomfort in the body and disturb a variety of bodily systems, such as digestive issues and major swings in energy.

Chiropractic treatment may assist in relieving physical discomfort by treating back pain, headaches, and neck pain while also supporting the nervous system, which is responsible for the release of hormones and regulating other bodily functions.

Chiropractic treatment for early pregnancy focuses on laying a foundation of health for the rest of the pregnancy. Adjustments, soft tissue manipulation, and alignment correction using traction or other methods may all be beneficial treatments to set the stage for as painless and balanced a delivery as possible.

2nd Trimester (Weeks 13 – 28)

Hormonal Changes:

• Estrogen – is lower compared to the first trimester of pregnancy
• Progesterone – is lower compared to the first trimester of pregnancy
• Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Hormone (hCG) – levels off and plateaus
• Human Placental Lactogen (hPL) – stays steady
• Relaxin – stays steady
• Oxytocin – temporarily plateaus

The body is better adjusted to the flood of new hormones in the second trimester of pregnancy, which generally level off or decrease gradually around this time.

This phase lasts from ten to 15 days and is characterized by significant alterations in physical size and form. The baby is growing rapidly and expanding in size, which can cause a variety of bodily symptoms and discomfort. Braxton-Hicks contractions are common during this period, as are leg cramps, dizziness, backache, sinus problems, headaches, heartburn, and pelvic soreness.

Available Chiropractic Care:

Chiropractic care during the second trimester of pregnancy is highly focused on reducing pain and discomfort while also supporting all body systems.

Chiropractors may focus on areas where you experience pain or discomfort, such as the back, neck, and head. Chiropractic treatment may help to decrease pain and soreness in these regions while also increasing cognitive function and clarity, enhancing immune function, and regulating the nervous system.

3rd Trimester (Weeks 29 – 40)

Hormonal Changes:

• Estrogen – increases more than in second trimester
• Progesterone – increases more than in second trimester
• Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Hormone (hCG) – slowly decreases
• Human Placental Lactogen (hPL) – incrementally increases and then plateaus
• Relaxin – increases to helps facilitate labor
• Oxytocin – increases to help facilitate labor

All physical symptoms that occurred throughout the second trimester are generally amplified during the third trimester of pregnancy. Changes in body size and form, as well as discomfort (such as constipation and heartburn), back, neck, and pelvic pain, inflammation and swelling, stiffness, joint discomfort, or hypermobility in joints occur. Contractions of the Braxton-Hicks type occur. Leg cramps, abdominal cramps, and dizziness are all common symptoms.

During pregnancy, the body’s energy is directed towards last fetal developments, as well as labor and delivery. The hormones that spike (typically relaxin, oxytocin, estrogen, and progesterone) are intended to begin the process of delivery; thus, the increased intensity of symptoms linked with these hormones is expected.

Available Chiropractic Care:

Chiropractic care at this stage of pregnancy is intended to prepare the body for a successful delivery by aligning it with nature’s own approach. At this time, your expert chiropractor will be taking new measurements to identify which section of your body is under the most strain. The treatment that expectant moms receive will focus on reducing tension, inflammation, and pain as much as possible and preparing the body for childbirth.

Chiropractors are all trained to deal with pregnancy, and some even seek specialized further education to assist turn breech fetuses. When you visit your chiropractor in the third trimester of your pregnancy, inform him or her about any changes you’ve noticed (compared to earlier periods), any worsening symptoms, and any medical issues or ideas given to you by your primary care doctor.

Labor and Delivery

Although chiropractic treatment is not intended to be administered during the pregnancy and delivery process, it is specially developed to aid with a successful, efficient, and balanced labor and delivery process.

The spine and joints may change significantly during pregnancy, frequently producing subluxations (misalignments in the joints and spinal structure) and other modifications that can last even after a pregnancy is finished.

Chiropractic adjustments during pregnancy offer the most benefits, although even a single treatment in the final weeks before birth can produce significant advantages and reduce pain.

Chiropractic BioPhysics® & Pregnancy

Chiropractic BioPhysics® (CBP®) is a non-invasive type of therapy that specializes in providing long-term pain alleviation and alignment correction, as well as visible postural improvement and multi-faceted support of the body systems.

CBP® is no exception when it comes to pregnancy chiropractic treatment. Given that the technique itself is gradual, gentle, and highly targeted and individualized for each person, chiropractic BioPhysics® remains one of the safest and most effective types of chiropractic therapy studied so far.

The use of a comprehensive treatment strategy to correct the spinal posture might be delayed until after pregnancy until pregnant women who are suffering from pain and discomfort as a result of misalignment. CBP®, on the other hand, can provide relief to expectant moms by working as an intervention.

During pregnancy, the weight of the baby might put strain on various regions of the body, including while sleeping and during activities. CBP® treatment can assist to relieve pressure and pain by strengthening bones and joints in the immediate region while relieving areas of the spine subjected to tension, stress, and inflammation.

Pregnancy Care in Alameda, CA and Oakland, CA

Dr. Cynthia Boyd, a renowned chiropractor in Alameda and Oakland, CA, has successfully treated hundreds of pregnant women at Symmetry Health Center by assisting them in determining a treatment strategy that meets all of their needs. Whether you’re looking for pain alleviation, symptom relief, gentle postural correction, or joint support, Dr. Boyd specializes in customized chiropractic care to ensure that you are adequately assisted throughout your pregnancy.

During pregnancy, Dr. Boyd thinks chiropractic therapy is an excellent addition to conventional medical care. When patients visit their chiropractor on a regular basis throughout pregnancy, they report experiencing a smoother childbirth and delivery process as well as a better overall pregnancy experience.

The team at Symmetry Health Center in California’s San Francisco Bay Area is pleased to provide the best level of chiropractic care throughout pregnancy for those who live in or near Oakland, California or Alameda, California.