Being pregnant can be a wonderful experience for many women, except for those experiencing pain and discomfort. Pain is not a normal part of pregnancy, but osteopathy can help smooth the road from conception to birth and postpartum recovery. In fact, we’ve seen that women who participate in a birth preparation treatment plan are often more comfortable during pregnancy and often have a shorter, easier labour.
Here’s what to expect during your pregnancy and how regular Osteopathic visits can help ease your pain and prepare your body for childbirth.
Why you experience pain during pregnancy
Pregnancy is a magical time, except if it’s causing you physical or emotional pain and discomfort. Pain during pregnancy is your body telling you it’s struggling to catch up with all the changes your body is going through while growing a child inside you.
Your baby is growing quickly, and this causes a shift in your body composition and balance. This fast growth leads to the common aches and pains described during pregnancy, including back pain, leg discomfort, and tummy stress. You may also experience emotional discomfort during pregnancy, especially if this is your first pregnancy, you’ve had fertility struggles, or had traumatic pregnancies and births.
Osteopathy can help ease your physical and emotional pain by getting to the root of the pain.
How Osteopathy supports a healthy pregnancy journey
Osteopathy treats pain and dysfunction related to your joints, muscles, nerves, connective tissue, and internal organs, all areas of the body under tremendous stress during the nine months of pregnancy. Treatments are tailored to your individual needs to get to the root cause, not just treat the symptoms of pregnancy pain.
Osteopathy can:
- help to reduce emotional, physical & traumatic stress
- enhance your immunity
- maintain alignment of your lower back, pelvis, hips, pubic bone & ribs
- relieve sciatic pain
- regulate your body for optimal fetal positioning
- relieve migraine & tension headaches
- relieve muscle spasms and strain
- Relieve heartburn and indigestion
We’ve heard from many moms-to-be that the educational component of Osteopathic visits at Thuja Wellness helps them feel more in control of their experience and empowers them to make their pregnancy as comfortable as possible.
Supporting optimal alignment
A key area osteopathy can support is ensuring your body alignment. An aligned body (including the pelvis) provides optimal positioning for the baby to rotate into a birthing position and safely move through the birth canal.
An osteopathy helps align your body’s circulatory, nervous, and lymphatic systems. This alignment is partially accomplished through gentle, non-invasive massages such as soft tissue massage, mobilizations, and cranial osteopathy. These and other osteopathic manual techniques can also help to improve your flexibility in the pelvis and abdomen, better preparing you for the physical requirements of giving birth.
Osteopathy during your third trimester
You can see your osteopath during any stage of pregnancy, but your care may differ in the third trimester.
Pain relief
For many women, this is when back and sciatic pain becomes a huge pain (literally). Special care and attention will be given to preventing and treating the source of pain before it becomes too inconvenient.
Emotional wellness
In the final weeks, your emotional health and well-being will also be discussed. As you near the birth of your child, you may be worried or stressed. Your Osteopath can recommend stress-reducing activities and exercises.
Baby positioning
In your third trimester, your osteopath will also begin monitoring your baby’s positioning, ensuring a safe transition into the birthing canal when they are ready.
Birth-pain management
Upon arriving at the hospital, you’ll be offered various ways to ease your labour pains. If you prefer a more natural approach to pain management, talk to your osteopath during the third trimester. They can help your body prepare for labour, so you experience less pain and provide exercises and pain management techniques you can try before you resort to western-medicinal pain management options.
Osteopathy to support postpartum recovery
After your labour, your postpartum healing journey begins, and an Osteopath can still be a great support and resource for your transition into motherhood. When advised by your doctor, your osteopath can help you to:
- realign your pubic bone, pelvis, lower back, and pelvic floor muscles.
- provide pain relief for feeding or nursing pain in your arms, shoulders, wrists, neck, and lower back
- maintain good posture (even after hours of gushing over the baby in your arms)
- heal C-section scar tissue
- manage postpartum depression and anxiety
- prepare to begin exercising again (when recommended by your doctor)
- prepare your body for pregnancy again if you wish.
When to book an osteopath appointment
If you have no other health complications, seeing an osteopath is safe throughout your conception, pregnancy, and postpartum journey. It can help you treat the root cause of pregnancy aches and pains and prepare your physical body and emotional well-being for the labour.
As an Osteopath, I can help you get pregnant, have a healthy pregnancy, and heal after the birth. I enjoy supporting women through all stages of starting their families.
If you’re ready to get the support you need to get relief from pregnancy aches and pains, book a complimentary meeting today to discuss your needs.