Pregnancy and Osteopathy.

Pregnancy brings a number of physical challenges to adapt to a growing baby, with weight increases, posture change, and hormonal shifts affecting you and your comfort level. Osteopathy can help with many of these symptoms to help you enjoy pregnancy as much as possible. 

Supporting Your Changing Body  

Easing Musculoskeletal Pain 

With the growth of the baby, your body will naturally shift to accommodate a front heavy weight. The body compensates with posture change from the lower back down to the knees and ankles. The increase in pressure causes the lower back to arch more, the hips adapt to a wider gait (the waddle). These changes can lead to pain in these areas, with pelvic girdle pain being the most common. Osteopathy can help relieve pressure, and improve mobility of these joints, along with advice to help you at home with adapted sitting position to optimise breathing, or sleeping with a pillow between the legs to ease pelvic pain. 

Supporting the Pelvic Floor

The pelvic floor musculature is crucial to supporting the weight of the baby and the uterus, and then post pregnancy is weak can lead to urinary incontinence/leakage. As the baby grows these muscles become overworked and weak. Osteopathy can improve the strength of these muscles through pelvic mobility work, reducing tension on surrounding muscles such as the glutes and hip flexors. In these cases most of the time we recommend that exercises are done at home, some of the classics with modifications for pregnancy, such as glute bridges and clams for the glutes, pelvic floor squeezes (like you're trying to hold in a wee). 

Alleviating Breathing Difficulties 

A issue that develops as the pregnancy progresses especially into the third trimester is breathing difficulties due to the increased size of the womb causing the abdominal organs to move upwards applying pressure on the diaphragm (muscle key in breathing), resulting in chest breathing. Osteopaths can help with this by mobilising the rib cage to aid its expansion, and then release tension within the diaphragm, with the aim of both to improve lung capacity whilst helping you learn how to breathe through the diaphragm also post-pregnancy to get your lungs working optimally. 

So always remember to take a minute at home, relax and concentrate on your breathing. 

Reduction in Swelling 

The biggest pain for most is the swelling of the ankles and feet, when you end up wearing sliders everywhere. This is due to the altered fluid mechanics in the body as a result of pressure, causing retention, and combined with gravity ends up in the feet. 

Osteopaths are trained to help with lymphatic flow and improve circulation through gentle techniques which are perfectly safe for you and baby. You can start this process at home with gentle foot circles and seated heel raises to get the ball rolling on reducing your swelling. 

Osteopathy After Birth: Aiding the Postpartum Recovery 

Post-partum is a big adjustment period for mothers as life with a newborn is not easy, and mothers tend to neglect their health for prioritising their baby (nothing wrong with that). But mothers must remember for the last 9 months your baby underwent drastic changes and then again after labour. Mothers need to take the time to look after themselves and get their health back on track as well, and feeling like themselves again. 

Pelvic Health and recovery 

Many women following pregnancy experience pelvic discomfort or weakness in this area, as a result of labours stretching and potential tearing of the pelvic area. Osteopaths can help you regain strength of the pelvic floor and adjacent muscles and joints, through treatment and education on how to activate the pelvic floor and how diet, and exercise can help it and what can hinder the progress. 

Restoring Postural Alignment 

Posture takes a beating during pregnancy and normally it is a fight mothers do not win due to the overwhelming anterior weight increase and pelvic tilt. The lower back becomes hypermobile and overstretched, with the upper back becoming rigid. Following pregnancy you are always carrying baby on your hips causing excessive bend in the back. 

Osteopathy can help improve the biomechanics of the spine to move it towards working as one unit again, through re-mobilisation of the whole back and releasing unwanted tension slowly to reduce the aching feeling without causing damage from releasing tension too quickly. In addition, looking at the lower limb mechanics to offload the back with the correct alignment from top to bottom.

Addressing the Mental and Emotional Well-Being 

Post-partum is a rollercoaster of emotions due to lack of sleep, hormonal shifts and normally a varying diet, in addition to the overwhelming internal need to care for your baby. This can leave you feeling drained, fatigued, and can lead to increased chance of illness and injury. 

Osteopaths can help by providing a space in which you can relax, upregulate your parasympathetic nervous system to help you feel relaxed and sleep better. Whilst helping you mentally through this difficult time with some tips and tricks to help YOU. 

In short…..

Osteopathy can help you every step of the way in pregnancy, and during post-partum. They can help you understand your changing body and what you can do to help it along the way. Most osteopaths are trained to understand the process of pregnancy and labour past the physical symptoms, and we can keep an eye on any of your concerns and be a board of reason. So treat your body right and help it with osteopathy to keep everything moving the way it should and adapt to the change pre and post pregnancy, along with nutritional advice to fuel it the best way possible as well. 

Hope you have found this helpful and come along to see us.