How chiropractic helps during pregnancy

From Dr. Liselotte Schuster:

Many women have successfully utilized the service of chiropractors throughout pregnancy for the relief of back pain and discomfort commonly associated with pregnancy. Since the advent of the Webster technique, many women have started chiropractic care with a malpositioned baby and experienced its timely turning under care.

More recently, women have been seeking chiropractic care for the potential elimination of dystocia (difficult labor). Here is yet another reason how chiropractic care throughout pregnancy can help pregnant womenhave safer, easier births. About 1 in 200 pregnant women suffer from preeclampsia with hypertension and albuminaria (protein in urine), which can lead to seizures, coma and death. The cause is unknown.

The authors studied pregnant women to see if there was a relationship between their spinal shape, particularly the lumbar (lower back) spinal shape and preeclampsia. It was revealed that women with decreased lumbar spine curves had more preeclampsia. Interestingly, they also found that patients with reduced lumbar curves had decreased blood flow to the iliac artery than normal pregnant women.

Hypolumbarlordosis: a predisposing factor for preeclampsia. Kanayama N. Maradny EE, Kajiwara Y. et al. European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology,

This article appeared in Pathways to Family Wellness magazine, Issue #051997;75: 115-121.