Osteopathy in Pregnancy
Pregnancy, whether it's your first or sixth pregnancy, is an amazing time. You're growing another human! The demands on the body are huge but without even thinking your body adapts both physically and physiologically to the changes and demands of your growing baby.
Sometimes it feels like your body may not be coping so well- back pain, shooting pains in the pelvis, discomfort sleeping, heaviness, aching legs, heartburn, headaches, and crazy emotions.
But you don't have to feel like this and you don't have to wait until you have your baby to be relieved of these discomforts. Read our article in Little Treasures magazine here. In fact, it's better if you deal with the issues before you have your baby as some issues can persist. Osteopathy in pregnancy can benefit:
- Easing some of the physical discomforts of pregnancy including pelvic pain and back pain
- Easing heartburn and indigestion
- Optimal baby positioning in the head down position
- Labour preparation and natural induction support
- Recovery after birth in a supportive and encouraging environment
Is treatment safe?
Osteopathic treatment is safe a safe option throughout pregnancy. At different stages, treatment techniques will be modified. Treatment techniques depend on many factors including the mother's health and medical history, the history of the pregnancy and any previous pregnancies and the mother's comfort with certain techniques being applied.
At MetaMed we use a custom-made pillow which supports your belly so that you can comfortably lay face down during your treatment. You may still receive treatment if your pregnancy is high risk, however, it is best to discuss this with your Obstetrician and Midwife.
We are always more than happy to communicate throughout the duration of treatment with other healthcare practitioners to ensure everyone is informed. Extreme care is taken not to cause any undue stress during or after treatment.
Recovery from Pregnancy
After giving birth whether it be vaginally or cesarean section the body not only has to recover from the previous 10 months of pregnancy but also the new role of being a mum- breastfeeding, changing nappies, carrying your baby, putting them in and out of a car seat at awkward angles and waking up when you'd usually be sleeping.
For some, this is a huge lesson in surrendering to what is. Every day in the life of your baby is precious and a time for bonding. There's no need to put yourself under pressure to exercise to lose baby weight, not to mention that exercise sometimes needs to be modified too.
However, the new activities and sometimes lack of normal exercise routine can result in some discomfort especially in the neck and back area. This can have a knock-on effect of making you uncomfortable during feeding and drawing extra energy from your body leaving you fatigued.
Babies are sensitive little souls and if there is no structural issue (i.e tongue ties and lip ties) they may become fussy with feeding if you're uncomfortable. Treatment can help ease the mother's discomfort and assist the body in adapting to its new role.
Journal Articles:
- Interventions for preventing and treating pelvic and back pain in pregnancy (Review) – Link
- Prevalence and characteristics of women who consult with osteopathic practitioners during pregnancy; a report from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH) – Link
Osteopath, Herbalist, Western Acupuncturist & Psychosomatic Therapist.
Jin is an intuitive therapist with 12 years of clinical experience. Her passion is the mind-body connection and how our physical body is a manifestation of our emotional state. She loves to get to the root of people's issues by delving deeper.
Jin's areas of special interest are frozen shoulder, jaw pain, sacro-iliac joint pain and pregnancy related issues.
Favourite technique: Jin uses a variety of treatment modalities but her favourite for getting results is dry needling and psychosomatic therapy.