Chiropractic care supports women throughout pregnancy by helping the body adapt to physical and hormonal changes through gentle, safe techniques like the Webster Technique. Chiropractic adjustments can ease common discomforts, promote smoother labor and delivery, and even benefit newborns by ensuring proper nervous system function from birth.
How does chiropractic care support a woman’s body during each trimester of pregnancy, especially as her posture and center of gravity shift?
Dr. Gregg Rubinstein: Wow. That’s a pretty good pick up. It really is the weight gain, the change in the center of gravity as the baby expands forward. It moves that center of gravity anterior and puts a lot more stress on the spine and different stresses than what the body’s used to, so the body has to adapt. Chiropractic care really ensures that the body can adapt to stress, and stress can be weight gain. Stress could be poor posture. It could be an accident, a slip or a fall or anything. Weight gain is the stress on the spine. In the first trimester, it’s essentially the same as a regular visit. Most of the moms, when they’re not showing and not gaining a lot of weight, we’re doing the preparation to make sure that the spine is flexible, strong, and can actually handle the increased weight that’s coming along.
Those visits in the beginning of pregnancy look the same. It’s really around week 23 to 26 that it all changes. There’s a lot more hormonal changes going on in the body. The body secretes that hormone relaxin, which necessitates a change in the techniques that we use. And we start using something called the Webster Protocol. Now, the Webster Protocol is specifically designed very gentle, very safe for the pregnant woman. It’s a series of gentle drop adjustments to realign the hips, the pelvis, and making sure that the uterosacral ligaments and the round ligaments are nice and relaxed. When everything’s relaxed and lined up well, usually it results in a lot less discomfort for the mom during pregnancy, and it helps her carry the load a little bit more stress-free.
We find that chiropractic care given to a mom, usually results in less pain during pregnancy, less pain during delivery, shorter delivery times, and most importantly, less need for interventions, particularly Pitocin, epidurals and C-section. We’re supporting the body in a way that we would support any patient by making sure that the spine is straight, strong and that the nerve system is clear from interference, and that’s what allows the body to function at its best.
Again, we can’t guarantee that there’s going to be no pain or discomfort during a pregnancy, but most of the time when we apply the Webster Technique correctly, these moms get a lot of relief and can enjoy a lot more time with their pregnancy, be pain-free and be sure that they’re doing the right thing for themselves and their unborn child.
What are some common pregnancy-related discomforts or conditions? I know you just touched on this a little bit, but ones that chiropractic care can help relieve like sciatica and low back pain specifically?
Dr. Gregg Rubinstein: Those are the most common that we see. As the center of gravity moves forward, it puts some more stress on the facet joints in the back, and we can start to see lower back pain starting to develop. Not to mention the increased weight gain and all those other things that come into play. If there’s enough pressure on some of the lower nerves of the back, those nerves leave from the lower back and travel down the leg, so you can see sciatica. By gently adjusting and restoring good alignment, eliminating that pressure and pinching on the nerves, and actually lining up the spine better, there’s less bulging of the disc. When there’s less irritation to the nerves, a lot of those symptoms go away. There’s other things like as the center of gravity moves forward, the head will compensate and move forward, and people can see this shoulder-hand syndrome of pregnancy where they start to get pain in the lower part of the neck and maybe even numbness and tingling going down one of the arms, that’s called the shoulder-hand syndrome of pregnancy.
The list goes on and on. Also remember, if you have pre-existing back pain or weaknesses or misalignments in the spine, a pregnancy is going to add to that. So, we can see anything from neck pain, numbness, tingling, just general feelings of pressure. The moms can have indigestion and things like that as everything starts to expand in the abdominal wall and starts to put pressure on the stomach and the intestines and all those things because there’s not a lot of room in there. We try to work with the Webster Technique to convert that one-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom, so things just have more room less pressure and irritation.
There’s lots of things during pregnancy that can be helped with chiropractic. Again, not every single person gets full relief, but a more comfortable pregnancy is usually the goal. We usually have pretty good success working with a lot of moms.
What is the Webster Technique and how is it used to support both the mother and baby during pregnancy?
Dr. Gregg Rubinstein: Well, it’s a great question, but I want to make a clear statement. I did my training with the ICPA, which is the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association. Back in the day when Larry Webster first coined the term and started the Webster Technique, they actually used to call it a breach turning technique, but it was a misnomer because we don’t do anything to the baby. We’re not turning the baby. Really all I’m working on is the mom. By using some gentle contact and relaxing the round ligament, the uterosacral ligament, making sure that the sacroiliac joints are lined up, that the pelvic girdle is in good alignment and relaxing some of the rotators of the hip, what we end up with is a relaxed state in the abdominal wall. The muscles are relaxed, the ligaments aren’t so tense, and it’s just an easier area for the baby to hang out, live and grow.
But we’re not doing anything to the baby. We’re not touching it because if we do anything to the baby, then I’m practicing obstetrics without a license. I always want to make sure that we’re clear that I’m not turning the baby, all I’m doing is working with the mom.
It’s so important, and again, as I might’ve mentioned before, the job of the Webster technique is really to convert that one bedroom into a two-bedroom, so the baby has all the room in the world to assume that ideal birthing posture and position, but it’s at no effect to the baby. As long as we apply that technique correctly up and through the delivery, we always see shorter delivery times, less pain during delivery, and most importantly, less need for interventions. That’s really how it all works on that. But we’re not affecting the baby. And yes, when we provide the Webster Technique, we will see some pain relief in the mom, but it’s really all about setting her up to birth that child in the ideal conditions with the least amount of stress on her spine and the musculature and ligaments related.
Could you explain how chiropractic care during pregnancy may impact labor and delivery?
Dr. Gregg Rubinstein: Well, that’s really cool and a great question to ask because again, we might have an indirect impact because again, we’re working with the nerve system. When a mom goes into labor, what happens is the baby when it’s ready to be born, and typically that’s when the lungs are ready to handle and breathe oxygen, that baby will send a signal to mom’s brain and then all of a sudden the mom starts this neurological cascade of information that starts the baby to come out. It initiates the contractions. It allows the pelvis and everything start to dilate and relax. All these things start to happen under the auspice and direction of the mom’s nerve system. If we can keep that nerve system clear and have better communication, that communication, when that’s more efficient, the body will execute the orders more efficiently and you generally have a more efficient birth.
Again, it leads to shorter delivery times, less pain, less complications, and less interventions they will do and usually the speedier the birth is. Because when you start intervening and you start putting Pitocin and epidurals in there, well the epidurals shut down the communication. They’re going to deaden the nerves. When those nerves are carrying messages to tell the mom’s uterus to contract and those messages don’t get there, well, then the birth is going to start to slow down and then they’re going to want to do more interventions. So, it’s so important to let the body do what it’s designed to do.
Women have been birthing kids for tens of thousands of years before any medical doctor got involved. The natural way, in my opinion, is almost always the best way. Now, don’t get me wrong. I understand there’s complications. We’re seeing a lot more of what the OBGYNs call geriatric pregnancies, which are people having children in their late 30s, 40s, and sometimes even in their 50s. I’ve seen great outcomes. A 52-year-old mom doing a home birth and getting incredible results, and how brave is she to go a little bit against the medical grain. But truth is that the body knows how to do these things. It’s ingrained, it’s innate, then it’s hardwired, and they’ve been doing it for such a long time. As long as you let it go in most cases, those moms know how to deliver those kids.
Think about it, 100 years ago you weren’t seeing a doctor to deliver your kid, it was probably your grandmother or some midwife in the town. It’s important to really understand that. It can always have an impact. Look, I’m not sitting here and telling you that 100% of the moms that I take care of get to go and have that beautiful natural birth. Sometimes they do end in a C-section, but as long as the end result is that beautiful, healthy baby, we know we’re doing our job.
What are the main benefits of chiropractic care for a newborn and how soon can the mother bring her newborn in for an exam?
Dr. Gregg Rubinstein: Well, the second part of the question is easy to answer. I always recommend ASAP. Not every child needs to be adjusted at birth, but every child needs to be checked. We were lucky, we got to adjust one of my assistants, she joined our office and within two months of joining our office she was pregnant. She literally drank the Kool-Aid. She heard me deliver these messages and talk to moms over and over. When she was pregnant, literally six hours after her son was born, we got a call and we were invited to go visit with her. Literally as soon as the nurse stepped out of the room, she’s like, “Here, I want you to check him.” But she got it. She was around it. She understood that chiropractic was important to make sure that that nerve system works strong.
Chiropractic can help with all kinds of things with children. We talked about respiratory issues in the past, like asthma and allergies, digestive issues ranging from colic to constipation, acid reflux, autoimmune issues, all these things are under the control of that nerve system. When we’re adjusting a child and we know that that nerve system is clear, all of those things are going to function and work better, and that’s really what we look for all the time. That’s just one part of it all.
As these kids get older and then they start to walk and they start to fall, then it’s even more important to start checking their alignment. At every stage of growth and development, a child can be checked. You’re never too young, you’re never too old to start caring for your spine because again, the better and healthier your spine is, the better and healthier your nerve system is, and your nerve system controls everything. All that intelligence that created that baby, that runs and regulates the body and heals is all tied up and connected to that nerve system. So healthy nerve system, means healthy child.
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To speak with Dr. Gregg Rubinstein, visit www.ChiropractorMidtown.com or call (212) 977-7094 to schedule an appointment.
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