Prenatal, Postpartum, & Pediatrics
Prenatal Care
Oh mama! Expecting a new baby is, at the least, one of the most exciting and life-altering experiences a woman gets to have in her lifetime. Congratulations!
There is never a wrong time to start seeing a prenatal chiropractor and there are many benefits for your body and upcoming birth whenever you do start! In your first trimester, chiropractic care can help reduce nausea, heartburn, and indigestion. In your second trimester, chiropractic care can reduce low back pain, address postural changes due to weight gain and increased lordosis, help with alignment, and increase flexibility. And in your third trimester, chiropractic care can continue to reduce low back, SI joint, pelvic, and tailbone pain, reduce uterus torsion, improve pelvic mobility, prepare your body for a healthy delivery, and reduce the need for medical interventions.
Dr. Beck is a Webster Certified prenatal chiropractor and a Spinning Babies® enthusiast. Both of these together may:
- activate the parasympathetic nervous system,
- soften, stretch, and enlarge the pelvis,
- ease the sensations of childbirth,
- make room for baby to find her optimal position,
- untwist the ligaments of the uterus and reduce torsion, and
- speed up labor.
Postpartum Care
Being a new parent can feel like the most challenging task with day and night diapering and feeding of a tiny human. There are no breaks for new moms and dads! And that interferes with sleep and can cause all sorts of body aches and tension.
Postpartum chiropractic care helps relieve body aches and tension, improves quality of sleep (sorry, Dr. Beck can’t increase quantity of sleep), and aids in the mental-emotional-physical healing process.
New mamas may feel very alone in the postpartum period. Plan ahead to have support if and when you need it, including a well-educated and compassionate chiropractor who can help as your traverse your “fourth” trimester.
Pediatrics
Like so many parents, you may struggle with breastfeeding. Every child is a new breastfeeding relationship no matter if it’s your first or your seventh baby!
Dr. Beck starts with a detailed conversation where we talk about how your baby is feeding and latching and baby’s general state of being – colicky, content, unsettled, gassy, tight, etc. This is a time to talk about everything you’ve noticed. After this, Dr. Beck will do a visual examination to observe baby’s body posture, carriage, movement preferences, skin and muscle tone, bone structure, symmetry, and so on. This helps to determine the alignment of baby’s cranial bones and potential areas of weakness or discomfort. After this, Dr. Beck will do a gentle physical examination to feel baby’s pelvis, spine, jaw, cranial bones, and gently move her body to assess tone and tension. The soft palate – roof of the mouth – may also be assessed. All of this is to help determine the why and where of imbalances and restrictions.
There are a number of causes why baby might have latch difficulties or a colicky state of being. Common reasons include temporomandibular joint (TMJ) restrictions, misalignment of the cranial or spine bones during the birthing process, the tongue muscles may work inefficiently because of misalignment of the attached bones and joint structures. Dr. Beck helps correct these issues through very gentle massage, craniosacral therapy, and chiropractic adjustments. The adjustment for a baby is very gentle: there are no “cracking” movements. The newborn infant body is simply open to the suggestions of gentle pressure. (Whereas adult bodies sometimes need a little more coaxing.)