Somewhere near the end of pregnancy, it’s common to hear new parents say that they can’t wait for this last trimester to be over. While many pregnancy-related symptoms go away after delivery, you might be surprised to discover that you’ll then be entering what many people like to refer to as the “fourth trimester.”
If the prospect of having yet another trimester to go through fills you with dread, don’t worry. The postpartum period may bring along a few new challenges, but it is also a time for healing and recovery that helps you continue to focus on caring for your new family.
After pregnancy, the physical and hormonal changes linger for a little while longer as your body prepares for breast-feeding and recovers from delivery. In fact, your body continues the process of recovering throughout the whole first year.
The good news is that chiropractic care can help you not only recover from the physical issues that occurred with pregnancy by correcting your body’s biomechanics, posture and improving pain and discomfort, but it can also help you optimize healing within your body and lift the clouds of postpartum depression.
One of our favorite parts about caring for a postpartum parent is that we can offer you a drug-free and natural solution that won’t interfere with your ability to breastfeed. Nor will you feel drowsy like you would from pain medications during a time when every minute of sleep is as precious as your newborn’s little toes.
Since there’s no time like the present to introduce your child to the benefits of chiropractic care, it’s worth taking a moment to explore just how much our services can improve you physical and mental wellbeing over the next few months.
How We Treat Postpartum Moms
New moms sometimes shy away from chiropractic care out of the false belief that it only involves complicated adjustments and procedures. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. When postpartum moms come to our clinic, we treat them with the same gentle touch that we do for those who are still in the early stages of their pregnancy.
Knowing what to expect when you come to our clinic helps you start planning to jumpstart your final stage of pregnancy with professional support that gives you the best chances for a full and safe recovery.
Comprehensive Consultation and Exam
The first thing that happens when you come for a postpartum chiropractic appointment is that we’ll begin with a little get-to-know you session. During this initial consultation, you can tell us about your pregnancy, delivery and any postpartum challenges that you are currently experiencing. We’ll also ask you if you’ve experienced sciatica or other types of chiropractic conditions in the past.
Once we’ve gotten to know each other a little better, we’ll then move on to the physical exam. During the exam, we’ll check for any injuries that may have occurred during pregnancy and childbirth, such as misalignments in your spine. We’ll then be able to move forward with recommending a treatment plan that helps you begin to find relief from your postpartum symptoms.
Specific Chiropractic Care
Postpartum chiropractic care is most beneficial when your care plan is designed to be highly specific to your concerns. Just as no two newborns are exactly alike, no two new moms have the same recovery. Our care team takes the information that we gather in your consultation to develop a specific set of strategies to fit your recovery needs. While some moms might want to focus on improving upper back pain from carrying their newborn and lowering them in the crib, others might need assistance with alleviating lower back pain, numbness and tingling.
Massage Therapy and/or Soft Tissue Work
New moms frequently have muscle tension and strain that contribute to their pain and discomfort throughout the whole first year of their baby’s life. With each new pound that your baby gains, your body is pushed a little more when you pick them up to snuggle.
After delivery, you may also have strained muscles throughout your back, legs and hips. Delivering a baby is a lot like running a marathon. You could be left with lingering pain unless you work with a chiropractor that is trained in massage therapy techniques.
There’s also no denying that soft tissue work just feels good. While you’re working around the clock taking care of your newborn’s needs, spending an hour enjoying the relaxation that massage therapy can generate helps to ease stress that could be contributing to muscle tension.
Custom Pregnancy Exercise Plan
Postpartum moms, especially those who are breastfeeding, still have higher levels of relaxin in their body that increases instability in their joints and muscles. While you’ll be able to begin exercising as soon as your doctor gives you the green light, you’ll want to stick to a carefully designed plan for the whole first year after delivery.
A custom exercise plan includes everything you need to address common health conditions such as diastasis recti, pelvic floor dysfunction and back pain. Using special exercises, you’ll be able to target the specific muscles and postural issues that are responsible for your overall comfort.
Being able to use strategic movements to target the problem areas on your body helps you squeeze every bit of results from the precious minutes you have to spend on yourself each day.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is all-natural and has been practiced for thousands of years by people caring for postpartum moms. Since many new moms prefer to avoid using pain medications, this method is beneficial for easing aches and pains that disrupt your day.
This ancient Chinese technique also has the benefit of helping you with other post-delivery issues that include improving incontinence, increasing lactation, easing pelvic pain that occurs after C-section deliveries and giving you a renewed sense of energy.
Nutritional Supplementation
After having to watch what you eat for so long, you might be eager to dive into a bag of your favorite chips. While there’s nothing wrong with having that medium-rare steak you’ve been craving or even enjoying a soda, you’ll want to remember that your body still needs some extra nutrition right now.
Our chiropractic care plan takes all of the guesswork out of your post-pregnancy diet. We’ll help you plan meals that help with weight management without making you feel deprived. We can also recommend supplements that help replenish what your body used to foster your baby’s development. Lots of moms are low in iron, or you may need to increase your intake of calcium as your body begins to work on healing.
Postpartum Pregnancy Conditions
Finally getting to hold your newborn in your arms makes it all worth it, but you might also still be reeling from the surprises that pregnancy and delivery brings. Chiropractic care can help you start addressing these common postpartum pregnancy conditions that can continue for years if you don’t take action as soon as possible after you give birth.
Diastasis Recti
Many of those little twinges that you felt in your abdomen throughout your pregnancy were related to your muscles and ligaments stretching. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see just how much your muscles had to stretch when you look at those before and after pictures, but it can sometimes be hard to tell if they’ve gone back to their normal positions after you give birth.
For some women, the muscles that are associated with giving you that six-pack separate and leave a space between the two main rows. This can create the effect of having a belly pooch that resembles your early pregnancy that can last for years unless you seek proper care.
With this condition, simply doing hundreds of crunches can make the problem worse by pulling the muscles even further out of position. Instead of sit-ups and other potentially damaging exercises, your chiropractor will help you learn how to perform slow, controlled movements that promote healing.
Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
Your body’s pelvic floor consists of a complex set of muscles and ligaments that all help to support your growing baby. During pregnancy, changes in the curvature of your spine places strain on these ligaments that doesn’t always go away after delivery.
Pain, abdominal weakness and discomfort during intercourse are just a few signs of pelvic floor dysfunction. Chiropractors can use soft tissue work, ligament release treatments and strengthening exercises to help you get this critical part of your body’s infrastructure back to functioning properly again.
Incontinence
Leaking urine, feeling like you need to rush to the bathroom and dribbling are not normal after having a baby, and there are many ways that a chiropractor can help you feel better again. In some cases, you might have a prolapse that can improve by helping to get your muscles and spine into proper alignment.
Some women may have weakened muscles that benefit from strength training. Others may have muscles that stay in a constant state of tension. Breath work and ligament release techniques can help if your body hasn’t figure out how to relax tight muscles that contribute to incontinence and pelvic pain.
Sciatica
Sciatica pain starts in your lower back and can go shooting down your hips and legs. Although this condition can happen to anyone, it is more likely to happen to women during and after pregnancy. Treating sciatica involves spinal manipulations and massage therapy techniques. Your chiropractor may also help you improve your posture to reduce pressure on the sciatic nerve.
Postpartum Depression
Those baby blues may be related to fluctuating hormones, but they can also be made worse by dealing with pain, discomfort and dissatisfaction with your post-birth body. At our chiropractic clinic, we always remind our moms to give themselves time to heal, and having our support can help make coping with postpartum depression easier.
FAQs
Learning more about how chiropractic care can help you sail through the last stage of your pregnancy empowers you to make the right decisions for you and your baby’s health. Here are a few of the most frequently asked questions we get at our clinic to help jumpstart your plans for recovery.
Can chiropractors help with pelvic floor dysfunction?
Chiropractors are trained to use several different strategies to improve pelvic floor dysfunction. Breath work, strength training exercises and getting the spine back into proper alignment can also help to improve your symptoms.
Can you go to the chiropractor while breastfeeding?
Yes, you can! Breastfeeding moms benefit from finding natural ways to treat pain without needing to take potentially harmful medication. We also love showing new moms the best ways to hold their babies to increase breastfeeding success by minimizing upper back, neck and shoulder pain.
When can I go back to the chiropractor after giving birth?
You’re welcome to come to our clinic as soon as you feel like leaving the house. In fact, addressing chiropractic problems early helps to prevent them from getting worse. Chiropractors are experienced with helping new moms exercise or receive therapies that are safe for their bodies in the earliest stages of recovery.
How can you cure sciatica?
Sciatica tends to respond best to a multi-pronged approach to post-pregnancy chiropractic care. Heat and cold treatments are beneficial. We’ll also teach you how to do stretching exercises that relieve strain on the sciatic nerve. Physical therapy, weight management and spinal manipulations can all help you find long-term relief from sciatica pain.
Can chiropractors help with depression?
New moms need all the support that they can get, and it is hard to plaster a smile on your face when you’re dealing with pain that interferes with your ability to wake up and enjoy each day. Chiropractors are compassionate and take the time to listen to new moms.
Sharing their pain helps to bring emotional relief for moms with depression. Many postpartum chiropractic techniques are aligned with self-care. Deep breathing, doing gentle stretches and enjoying a massage are all beneficial for easing the symptoms of depression. Plus, you’ll feel a renewed sense of hope when you know that you are doing everything you can to promote healing during this challenging, yet amazing, time in your life.
