At Advanced Vitality our providers absolutely love taking care of pregnant mamas. In addition to our extra certification in prenatal care, our providers have learned a ton of tips and tricks over the years to share with our clinic members and their partners. In this article we want to share our TOP 3 TIPS that every pregnant mama needs to know to feel great during her pregnancy.
TIP #1: ROLLING OVER (and sitting up)
This one is particularly important for bed time. We know that sleeping gets progressively difficult throughout a pregnancy and sometimes just trying to roll onto your side to get more comfortable in bed, leads to a restlessness night for everyone. With this tip you'll be totally prepared to roll with ease and reduce the risk of twisting your pelvis and muscles out of alignment and that causes all of those dreaded lower back and pubic bone pain.
Start with your knees bent lying on your back.
Keep your knees and ankles 'glued' together throughout this movement
Roll both knees to the side you want to roll on (keep them bent and glued together)
To sit up, let your feet hand off the side of the bed and push onto your elbow
Use both arms to walk yourself up into a sitting position.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
The pelvis is the bony protective house for the uterus and your baby as it grows and develops. It has 3 joints so it's able to to stay mobile and stretch open as your baby increases in size. If anyone of these joints gets slightly twisted it can create sharp stabbing pains and discomfort in most positions including sitting, standing and lying down. If you try and roll without keeping your legs together, you risk creating twists and misalignments in your pelvis and pain and discomfort.
TIP #2: PROPER SITTING TECHNIQUE
Firstly, we think its super important to remind you that sitting is actually a really bad position for any body to spend a lot of time in, but especially if you're pregnant. The reason being that when you sit, you put a lot of pressure on your coccyx (tailbone) and lock the sacrum (the lower part of the spine and the area against which your baby rests) which can result in severe lower back pain during pregnancy and back labour during delivery. Here are our favourite tips for sitting when you're pregnant:
Try and sit on an exercise ball as much as you can
Make sure you sit in a wide legged stance on the edge of the chair seat
Make sure your knees are always lower than your hips
Use the 'flashlight test'. Aim the beam of a flashlight straight out from your belly button, adjust your position to make sure the beam points straight out or down to ensure a great alignment in your pelvis.
IN THE CAR: use a small pool floaty ring or donut pillow and put 2 puffs of air into and sit on that to keep your pelvis from locking on car trips.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Keeping your pelvis unlocked and able to move and grow as your baby does is important for a number of reasons. The most important reason is to give your baby enough space to grow and move into a head down position in preparation for delivery. The second reason is to reduce the risk of back pain and sciatica in you mama! By sitting in the right positions you can help both yourself and your baby!
TIP #3: GET ADJUSTED BY A WEBSTER CERTIFIED CHIROPRACTOR
Having your body and nervous system adjusted throughout your pregnancy has been shown to reduce aches and pains and support a faster, easier and safer labour and delivery. Your nervous system controls and coordinates all other systems and actions in your body and that includes making, growing and birthing a baby. If there is any interference in the nervous systems, then all of these processes are at risk of dysfunction. More women are seeking body work and natural options to support a healthy nervous system before and throughout their perinatal journey. At Advanced Vitality, our unique neurofunctional approach uses state of the art technology with our INSIGHT Health Scans to determine the exact areas and depth of interference in your nervous system and also allows us to track its changes throughout your pregnancy, giving your the best ability to have the pregnancy and birth that you desire.
The Webster Technique is a specific method of analysis and adjustment that Chiropractors who work with the pregnant population are required to receive extra education and certification in. This technique has been used for over 40 years to rebalance the neuro-biomechanics of a pregnant woman's pelvis and support her through her pregnancy journey. Even though this method is only applied to the mother, it has been shown to support optimal fetal positioning as well.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
Modern and current day trends in birth are towards increased medical intervention. This means that more women are being induced, administered Pitocin and epidurals and the use of forceps, vacuum and C-section rates are increasing dramatically. The research indicates that medical intervention leads to further medical intervention which is why the C-section rate has seen an astronomical increase and is now sitting at ~30% in North America (despite the World Health Organization recommendation of less than 10-15% C-section rate). Pediatric chiropractic research now suggests medical birth intervention as a probable cause of neurofunctional interference in newborns leading to increased rates of failure to thrive, breastfeeding/latching issues, colic and digestive issues and milestone delays. In light of this issue, our prenatal and pediatric providers have made a commitment to support natural birth options and give every mama the chance to have the least amount of medical intervention in her birth as possible. In turn, we hope that this provides a healthier start to life and reduces the risk of significant neurofunctional interference for her baby.
For more information about Prenatal Chiropractic Care and how to have a safe, natural and awesome pregnancy, follow us on our social media channels or call/email us! We are here to help!
Watch this quick video with some more tips to support a healthy spine and nervous system during pregnancy: