One of the things the team here at Boost are passionate about is providing quality chiropractic care for families, and the starting point for most families is pregnancy. Quality chiropractic care leading up to and during your pregnancy is so important for so many reasons yet it’s often not included in the pages and pages of information that women are given during the early stages of their pregnancy.
Nearing the end of my own first pregnancy I am more aware than ever of the value of chiropractic care throughout the entire journey, and the role it plays in keeping me feeling great both mentally and physically. I’d love to share some information with you about just what role chiropractic care can play as you enter into this nine month roller coaster ride!
One of the key concepts of chiropractic care is the subluxation. Every organ, tissue and cell within your body has a job to do, and when every cell, tissue and organ is working at its best our bodies function at 100%, we are firing on all cylinders so to speak. Of course, much like the components of any system, there has to be a master controller, and in the case of the human body that master controller is the brain. While it’s all well and good for the brain to be firing off instructions to the cells of our bodies, those instructions need a pathway, which in this case is our nerve system.
So far it’s all very simple. Our brain is the master controller sending out messages to the cells and tissues of our bodies to do their job, and every component is working at 100% to keep us as a person in tip top condition. Unfortunately our daily lives (financial stress, physical trauma, ingested toxins and chemicals, deadlines, relationships etc) can get in the way of this perfect system and cause subluxations, which are interruptions to the communication pathways. These interruptions will ultimately reduce the clarity of the communication between our brain and our bodies, sometimes resulting in symptoms as our function decreases. Once we understand this basic premise we can start to focus specifically on pregnancy.
Let’s be honest. Pregnancy though an amazing miracle, can be hard. There are pages of “rules” these days for what pregnant women should and shouldn’t do. What we should and shouldn’t eat. Even what we should and shouldn’t wear! At times it can be a bit overwhelming when we want to do everything that is right for our developing baby and there are so many opinions to take into account. Our bodies also undergo major changes over a very short time period and our hormones change completely. All of these things result in the common signs of pregnancy: weight gain, postural changes, morning sickness, fatigue, emotional instability…the list can be quiet long! While I don’t wish to add to the list of “rules” at all (the list I was given was 5 pages long!), I do want to say that one of the best things you can do to move through this time is make sure that your body is functioning at 100% and communicating with your brain as effectively as possible. Because after all, if you aren’t functioning at your highest level, how can your body give its full attention to developing and growing that magic little being inside you? While improving your body’s internal communication and thus overall function is our main goal there are also side effects to this process that I’d like to share with you. These include but are not limited to reduced incidence of low back pain during pregnancy, up to a 5 hour reduction in labour time, improved sleep quality, increased energy levels and more emotional stability.
While I won’t tell you what to eat, do or wear during your pregnancy (unless you ask for my opinion of course!) I can’t emphasise enough the importance of doing what you can to keep yourself subluxation free and maximise your function. Do yourself and your loved ones a favour and utilise good quality chiropractic care during your pregnancy. The difference will astound you!
-Chanelle