How can Osteopathy help with pregnancy?
Expectant mothers to be experience an influx of hormonal and physical changes while carrying a growing baby and preparing for childbirth. These changes can lead to widespread discomfort. Ligaments soften and stretch, the spine curvature adapts and changes, muscles become more tired and therefore stiffen. These changes cause an overall posture change.
Osteopathic treatment during the pregnancy, can help manage these changes by easing strain, improving mobility, improve lymphatic flow and support the body’s natural adaptations during the different trimester stages. Keeping spinal structures moving correctly, will not only keep you feeling more comfortable and less stiff, but allow the baby to have enough space to keep developing comfortably. Therefore, having frequent Osteopathy treatment during your pregnancy, will help offer relief to you, and reduce the likelihood of symptoms progressing.
Your Osteopath at CW Osteopathy, will assess to find your body’s balance, compensatory adaptations during structural changes through all stages of your pregnancy, helping prepare your body for child bird and into the post-natural stages.
Is Osteopathy safe during pregnancy?
Having Osteopathy during your pregnancy is safe. Osteopath’s cannot treat you before you are 16 weeks and after 36 weeks.
Not only is Osteopathy safe, but evidence suggests that it is beneficial to both the mother and the baby, providing a crucial part of healthcare during a pregnancy. Due to the physical, hormonal and mechanical changes during pregnancy, the body has to adapt. Osteopathy offers gentle, patient-centred holistic treatment that respects those changes and support you during this time.
If you have any medical conditions, complications, or are under obstetric care, please check with your midwife or obstetrician that Osteopathy is suitable for you.
What can Osteopath’s treat during pregnancy?
During pregnancy, the body can present with a increase number of discomfort and niggles. Osteopathy can help manage concerns that are more experienced during pregnancy:
Headaches:
Treatment may ease tension in the neck, shoulders and upper back, which can contribute to headaches that arise from postural changes.
Nausea:
Gentle Osteopathic techniques can encourage relaxation and ease physical tension, which may indirectly reduce experiences of pregnancy-related nausea. While it is not a treatment for nausea itself, reducing stress and improving your comfort levels, can contribute to managing symptoms more effectively.
Lower Back, Sciatica and Leg Pain:
Improving pelvic alignment, mobility and reducing mechanical muscle strain around the lower back and hips, will help reduce the stress put upon your joints and muscles that develop due to postural changes during pregnancy. Thus, keeping you more comfortable throughout your different trimesters of pregnancy and preparation for childbirth.
Muscle tension:
Soft Tissue Massage, Muscle Energy Techniques, Trigger Point, PNF stretching are some of the many Osteopathic techniques we use that improve mobility, restore physiological balance in muscle tissue and reduce inflammation.
Pubic Synthesis Dysfunction (SPD):
As the baby grows, develops and prepares for labour, the positioning of the baby, and the postural change can increase the load and pressure on the cartilage that connects the pelvis together. This can cause the cartilage (Pubic Synthesis) to become inflamed. Treatment to your lower back, hip flexors, adductor muscles of the leg and the pubic synthesis will decrease tension, improve mobility and inflammation of this. We may attempt to directly manipulate the pubic synthesis for immediate relief.
While we treat you and keep you more comfortable, we therefore reduce the risk of the baby developing positional difficulties while your body is preparing for labour.
If you are experiencing different symptoms to those mentioned above, and have further concerns, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Can Osteopath’s help after pregnancy?
Yes of course! After you have had your baby, the body begins the process of restoring stability. This causes hormonal imbalances, aches and pains from your skeleton adjusting and correcting itself and your body adjusting to carrying a new born, to a toddler.
Having regular treatment sessions while you are pregnant, can reduce the chance of complications during labour and when you are post-natal. Gentle treatment to aid the body’s recovery, light rehabilitation to rebuild abdominal, spinal and pelvic floor muscles, expertise advise and reassurance for any concerns you may have.
We are here to help you on your journey to and through motherhood, whatever help you need, we are here.
Appointment Fees
If you are new to the clinic, an Initial Consultation is required before booking follow-up treatment appointments. If you have any questions, please contact us.
