Along with a healthy diet, exercise and avoiding drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, chiropractic care is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your baby. Chiropractic care provides many things essential to a healthy pregnancy and delivery including a flexible and balanced spine, hips and pelvis, internal organs without postural stress and a body that is free from nerve stress.

Pregnant patients have reported many positive benefits including:

  • Relieving back, neck or joint pain
  • Maintaining a healthier pregnancy
  • Controlling symptoms of nausea
  • Reducing the time of labour and delivery
  • Prevent a potential caesarean section

Any mother would agree, as pregnant women you need to have your body as strong and healthy as possible in order to handle the challenge of pregnancy and birth. Also it is essential to have all of your organ systems, especially reproductive organs the uterus, ovaries and related organs, functioning properly. Your chiropractor examines your spinal column for spine imbalances or distortions that can cause stress on your nerves called subluxations (spinal segment restrictions). These subluxations, when symptomatic, often present as pain, decreased range of motion, fatigue, and/or a feeling of being out of alignment or balance.  Subluxations are identified by your chiropractor and corrected through gentle, safe and effective adjustments of the body.  This returns the normal function to these areas; decreasing stress on your spine and nervous system so your body is able to heal itself and be healthy and happy.   


The late Larry Webster, D.C., Founder of the International Chiropractic Paediatric Association, developed a specific chiropractic analysis and adjustment which enables chiropractors to establish balance in the pregnant woman's pelvis and reduce undue stress to her uterus and supporting ligaments. This balanced state in the pelvis makes it easier for a breech baby to turn naturally. The technique is known as the Webster Technique. 

It is considered normal by some for a baby to present breech until the third trimester. Most birth practitioners are not concerned with breech presentations until a patient is 37 weeks along. Approximately 4% of all pregnancies result in a breech presentation. The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics reported in the July/August 2002 issue an 82% success rate of babies turning vertex when doctors of chiropractic used the Webster Technique. Further, the results from the study suggest that it may be beneficial to perform the Webster Technique as soon as the 8th month of pregnancy when a woman has a breech presentation. 

Currently, the International Chiropractic Paediatric Association recommends that women receive chiropractic care throughout pregnancy to establish pelvic balance and optimize the room a baby has for development throughout pregnancy. With a balanced pelvis, babies have a greater chance of moving into the correct position for birth, and the crisis and worry associated with breech and posterior presentations may be avoided altogether. Optimal baby positioning at the time of birth also eliminates the potential for dystocia (difficult labour) and therefore results in easier and safer deliveries for both the mother and baby.

Is it safe for both mother and child to have chiropractic care during pregnancy?
Yes. Not only is it a very safe, natural form of healthcare but it is very important care for both. Your chiropractor has been specially trained to adjust spines of pregnant women and their adjusting table with have specific modifications for the later months of their pregnancy. 

What if I feel ok during my pregnancy? Do I have to have a problem to see a chiropractor?

Chiropractic care during pregnancy should be used as preventative medicine. You should have periodic spinal checkups as often as your weight checkups.
   

What can I expect from a Chiropractic treatment?
Dr. Gilas treats everyone individually, combining a variety of techniques to get results quickly.  One these techniques involves manual mobilization/manipulation of the various joints of the human body.  The goals of mobilization/manipulation are to increase motion in the affected area, decrease pain, and to restore optimal function.  When a joint is adjusted the joint capsule stretches resulting in a release of the pressure inside the joint.  The pressure released results in a gas, which is normally dissolved in the liquid lubricating the joint, to be released.  This may or may not produce a “cracking/popping” sound.  Dr. Gilas also uses Activator Methods Chiropractic Technique© (AMCT) to achieve these same goals.  AMCT is a widely-used low-force chiropractic technique and is safe and effective.  It does not require the patient to twist or bend, and does not produce the cracking sound that a traditional chiropractic adjustments produces.  For more information, visit www.activator.com.  Dr. Gilas also commonly uses acupuncture, soft tissue therapy, The Graston Technique© (www.grastontechnique.com), exercise and lifestyle modifications to achieve the best possible results.

How late into my pregnancy can I get an adjustment?
Some women have been adjusted even during labour. During special cases chiropractors have been called upon when the labour has stopped prematurely. Labour resumed just like normal immediately following the adjustment. 

Can my baby receive chiropractic care?
Yes. Even infants who are a few hours old have been given spinal exams and, if needed, adjustments.  These adjustments are gentle, safe and most often relaxing for the infant. 

How does chiropractic care help the pregnant woman?
Because of the additional weight and stress on the framework of the body in pregnant women, chiropractic adjustments can help lower the incidence of pain in the low back and legs, and between the shoulder blades. In some cases, fewer headaches and problems with nausea and elimination may also result. Many chiropractors care for expectant mothers in the regular course of their daily practices. Most importantly is that chiropractic helps the expecting mother by improving nerve system function.  Chiropractic has been based for over 100 years on correcting interference to the nervous system known as subluxations.  With a properly functioning nerve system free of subluxations it is easy to see how many aspects of this important time for an expectant mother will be made easier.  Many women rely on chiropractic care as a regular part of their pre-, peri- and post- natal routine.