Perinatal Care

Dr. Katie has additional specialized training through the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA). She is Webster certified and has earned her ‘certification’ (CACCP) to specifically work with perinatal and pediatric populations.

It is very common for moms to experience aches and pains during pregnancy and all too often they are told it is ‘normal’ and is part of the course. Chiropractic care offers a viable option for common musculoskeletal complaints that can not only help you make your pregnancy more enjoyable but also help improve your birth experience. Common complaints that we help expectant moms with include: Sciatica, SI joint pain, hip pain, symphysis pubis pain (SpD), low back pain, upper back pain, neck pain, headaches, and non optimal baby positioning such as breech presentation. During pregnancy, hormone relaxin is released which causes varying degrees of ligament laxity. It peaks around 12 wks and in the last few weeks of your pregnancy. While it drops off significantly after baby is born, it can linger up to four months postpartum. About 10% of expectant moms will actually become hypermobile during their pregnancy. Additionally, as an expectant mom’s belly grows, her biomechanics completely change. Adjustments can help restore and maintain proper spinal alignment and function which in turn helps to minimize or eliminate many aches and pains during pregnancy. It also helps to optimize space in the pelvic outlet so that babies have all the space they need to get down into a head down optimal delivering position.

We want to be very clear that we do not treat ‘breech’ babies. We simply optimize the pelvic outlet. Under no circumstances do we palpate the baby or attempt to ‘flip’ them in the office.

Chiropractic care is extremely safe during pregnancy and there are many cautions and adaptions we make to help make your experience comfortable but yet effective. For example, we utilize pregnancy pillows for mom’s to use during an adjustment, so they can still lay face down on our adjustment table. Moms are welcome to see us at any time during pregnancy or postpartum. We actually encourage expectant moms to start early during pre-conception or 1st trimester. For breech mom’s, while we can absolutely can help even in the last few weeks of pregnancy, it does help most when care is started early during late 2nd/early 3rd trimester. Lastly, postpartum moms can come in for care too as soon as needed. There is no waiting period after birth. Those hospital beds can be uncomfortable, so if you are in a lot of discomfort immediately after birth, we recommend to come in for care so you can actually enjoy snuggling with your new bundle of joy. Again, we can adapt things to even help accommodate mom’s who have recently had a cesarean. A good rule of thumb though, is if moms feel ‘okay’ after birth, to do a general check-in around 3-4 weeks postpartum, when you feel like putting pants on and leaving the house again.

We talk about how difficult pregnancy is on the body, but we never talk about postpartum. In my opinion, postpartum is more physically demanding on a mom. The neck and shoulders can get tight from holding and feeding baby and the low back can get tight from carrying around a car seat or constantly rocking a baby while standing up.