Really? Chiropractic can help the position of my baby that’s Breech (or oblique, transverse, posterior)? We will explore more about the technique we use to help mamas, and common objections women have to utilizing chiropractic for pregnancy, and baby malposition in general.
The chiropractic technique we employ to help expecting moms is called the Webster Technique. According to its definition - The Webster Technique is a specific chiropractic sacral analysis and diversified adjustment. The goal of the adjustment is to reduce the effects of sacral subluxation/ SI joint dysfunction. In doing so, neuro-biomechanical function in the pelvis is facilitated.
Sacral subluxation may contribute to difficult labor for the mother (i.e., dystocia or painful or long labor), caused by inadequate uterine function, pelvic contraction, and baby mal-presentation. Correction of sacral subluxation may have a positive effect on all of these causes of dystocia.
Some expecting moms have hesitations about trying the Webster Technique for a variety of reasons:
-Won’t it hurt the baby? Or me? Chiropractic is extraordinarily safe, with virtually no incidents reported per 2,000,000 adjustments. Personally, I’ve adjusted over 1000 expecting moms, and have performed over 100,000 adjustments with no adverse events. Because expecting moms have surges of the relaxin hormone, to loosen ligaments and open up the pelvis, we use extraordinarily gentle techniques - light touch, adjusting instruments, and gentle drops.
As for your baby, he or she is protected by seven layers – your skin, your muscles, your fascia (surrounds groups of muscles), a layer subcutaneous fat, your uterus, the placenta, and baby’s bag of waters, or amniotic fluid. So soft tissue work involved in the Webster Technique on your round ligaments, the second layer from the outside, comes nowhere near baby.
-My previous baby was breech, is it just something about my body? In almost 90% of cases, there is something about your body that we can work on – the position and alignment of your pelvis and sacrum. Since our posture, our jobs, and the way we move our bodies is often the same throughout multiple pregnancies, the Webster Technique can help get to the root cause of why your baby might not want to settle into a vertex position.
-I tried the Webster Technique once, and it didn’t work for me. The Webster Technique is shown to be 82% successful. Studies show that success rates go up when the mother starts care in her eighth month of pregnancy. The average visits it took for baby to turn was 6. So if you are less than 36 weeks and are willing to give it a good try, you have a great chance of baby turning!
-I don’t have pain. Pain is an unreliable indicator of a misalignment. Even without pain, it is still worthwhile to utilize chiropractic to optimize the structure and neural integrity in your sacrum and pelvis.
In addition to helping align the pelvis, which can improve baby’s position, chiropractic in pregnancy has two other major side benefits: decreased labor time, and increased comfort. Chiropractic care has been shown to decrease labor times by 24 percent in first births and up to 33 percent for second or third births! (The effects of chiropractic treatment on pregnancy and labor: a comprehensive study. Fallon J. Proceedings of the world chiropractic congress. 1991; 24-31.) The study also shows that the sooner the mother starts chiropractic care, the more robust the benefits. Additional studies show that 75-88% of women experience a significant reduction in their back pain.
Dr. Erin offers complimentary 10-15 minute phone consults for any expecting mother who is interested in learning more about whether the Webster technique is right for her. We would love to see if we can help, and have fair and affordable prices to ensure that care is within your reach.