Pregnancy
PREGNANCY
Pregnancy is a very special time for an expecting mother and her unborn child. During pregnancy your body will go through major changes of size and weight in a short period of time. Your body releases a hormone called relaxin, which allows the ligaments throughout your body to soften & stretch, helping your body adapt as your baby grows.
If your body adapts well to the changes you will generally experience minimal pain & discomfort, but if your body has difficulty accommodating the changes, strain can be placed on your spine, neck & shoulders causing pain and discomfort.
How Can Osteopathic Treatment Help during Pregnancy?
Osteopathic treatment helps support the postural changes by identifying areas in your body that are moving too little or too much. Osteopathic treatment uses a variety of gentle techniques to improve mobility, relieve stress in muscles, tendons and ligaments, giving your body the ability to adapt with the changes occurring throughout your pregnancy.
Osteopathic Treatment can assist with the following conditions:
- Headaches
- Shoulder & Upper Back Pain
- Rib Pain
- Lower Back Pain
- Pelvic Girdle & Pubic Symphysis Pain
- Sacroiliac Pain
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Previous injuries can inhibit your body’s ability to adapt with the changes occurring during your pregnancy. Osteopathic treatment can assist releasing stress from past injuries and trauma, relieve presenting symptoms and reduce the chance of recurrence by giving your body space to continue to adapt throughout your pregnancy term.
How Can Osteopathic Treatment Help Post-Labour?
Whilst labour is a natural process, it is physically demanding on the mother’s body. The ligaments of the pelvis are in such a relaxed state, that the pelvis and sacrum are easily altered during the birthing process. This can create immediate and short-term discomfort in the lower back and pelvis, it can also have a long-term implication as the rest of the body compensates for the imbalance.
The following are common pains for new mum's postpartum:
- Neck pain & Headaches
- Pelvic Girdle and Pubic Symphysis pain
- Lower back & pelvis pain
- Mid back pain during and after breastfeeding
- Wrist pain
Osteopathic treatment can assist with realigning the spine and pelvis, assist in relieving pain resulting from the strain of childbirth, or the strain on the body caring for a new baby and to restore the body’s balance. We can also assist new mothers to cope with broken sleep and breastfeeding. Treatment by an Osteopath is gentle, drug free and non-invasive.
What can you do to help your body recover?
- Sleep/ rest as much as you can.
- Breastfeed your baby if possible. Breastfeeding normalises the hormones as well as helping you bond with your baby. This in turn helps reduce stress in the body.
- Drink lots of water and eat nutritious meals. This helps you keep your strength up, and increases your body’s ability to provide breast milk, cope with fatigue and the lack of sleep.
- Do your pelvic floor exercises. The sooner you start these post birth, the better. This assists in rebalancing the pelvis and assists with bladder control.
- Start light exercise. Regardless of how tired you feel, light exercise will make you feel better. This will also improve blood circulation, stretch muscles and improve overall well being.
- Get advice on posture for when you’re feeding your newborn, changing and washing your newborn.