1. Back Pain Relief: Chiropractic care can help prevent and relieve back pain associated with pregnancy. Pregnancy is tough on the body’s skeletal structure, especially as baby grows and gets heavier! The weight of your expanding belly changes your posture and spinal curvature, and chiropractic can help correct posture problems and help your spine keep its intended curve. Consider the following aspects of pregnancy that cause stress on your body: Rapid increase/decrease in weight Postural changes--Protruding abdomen and increased back curve Changes in sleep patterns & positions Altered appetite and eating habits Loosening of body ligaments to allow for growth/labor Flat feet/pronation due to weight gain/loose ligaments Emotional changes (hormonal shifts/new family stress) 2. Ease Pregnancy Symptoms: Chiropractic can help ease pregnancy symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting. It doesn’t work for all women, but chiropractic is one way to try to get some relief from morning sickness. If the nausea and vomiting is due in part to nerves pinched by out-of-place vertebrae, an adjustment will help remedy the problem. 3. Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby: The main premise of chiropractic care is to allow the body to heal itself by removing obstructions to the nerves in the spinal column. When the nerves allow the brain and the body to communicate freely, the body is able to work as it was designed. Chiropractic helps ensure a healthy immune system for both mom and baby, whose immune systems are very intimately connected during pregnancy. 4. Better Positioning for Baby: Chiropractic can help position baby correctly for birth. If the hips and lower spine are out of place, baby could end up sideways, posterior or breech–none of which are ideal positions for labor and birth. Chiropractic adjustments can thus help get baby in the proper position, by ensuring that there are no vertebrae out of place. Webster Technique: This technique is used specifically for pregnant women. It is a specific sacral adjustment to help facilitate the mother's pelvic alignment and nerve system function along with releasing any round ligament tension. This in turn balances pelvic muscles and ligaments, reduces torsion to the uterus. This offers a greater potential for optimal fetal positioning. 5. Better Labor and Birth: Chiropractic adjustments can help shorten labor and make the birth process easier. If the mother’s spine and hips are in proper alignment, and if all the nerves to the muscles and organs in her body are free and healthy, labor and birth can progress more easily and possibly take less time than if there was an alignment issue. For moms desiring a drug-free natural birth, chiropractic care can help them accomplish that goal.

ABSOLUTELY! During pregnancy most women experience pain and discomfort as their bodies adapt to the many changes taking place inside. Women who receive chiropractic care throughout pregnancy experience greater comfort, less pain, shorter labor and delivery times. As a whole these mothers experience vitality and health throughout their pregnancy and are better prepared to deal with the stress that comes along with childbirth. Chiropractic adjustments do not harm the pregnant mother or her unborn child. In fact, maintaining a healthy spine and nervous system throughout pregnancy can prevent further postural problems that might occur during and following childbirth.

HOW CAN CHIROPRACTIC CARE HELP DURING LABOR: Better Positioning for Baby: Sometimes, baby isn’t in the optimal position for delivery, which may cause labor to stall or cause back labor especially if baby is occiput posterior. Getting adjusted during labor can help baby to get into a better position to help speed up labor and delivery. Balance out Parasympathetic and Sympathetic Nervous System: If mother is stuck in a sympathetic state (fight or flight mode), this can cause labor to stall as well. Certain adjustments and ligament work can calm the body by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system helping the mother to relax and allow labor to resume.

REASONS FOR POSTPARTUM CHIROPRACTIC CARE Speed Up the Recovery Time: Chiropractic adjustments quicken recovery time by restoring overall pelvic and spinal biomechanics allowing the body to focus on healing. Overcome Postural Changes: The hormonal and postural changes of pregnancy combined with the stress of delivery itself and the new stress of holding baby, carrying the baby in a car seat, etc. can cause tremendous alterations to a mother’s posture. Getting regular adjustments can help combat the daily postural stress that comes with having a new baby. Helps Avoid Postpartum Depression: Removing interference in the upper cervical region through chiropractic adjustments is imperative for mother’s wellbeing. ***1975 study published in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association indicates that "post-partum depression is a rarity in patients receiving manipulative [adjustment] therapy." Reduces Back Strain due to Breastfeeding: The first few months the mother will find herself sitting and holding baby while nursing quite often, which can shift the posture and cause strain on the wrist, neck, or back. ***Stress on the T3 and T4 nerve can reduce milk supply!!! Pelvic Rehabilitation: Adjustments of the lumbar and sacroiliac (SI) region along with improving core and pelvic strength can not only help improve proper biomechanics of the pelvis, but they can also help restore function of the Pelvic Floor muscles. RELAXIN: Research shows that the ligaments begin to re-tighten nearly 8 weeks after giving birth, but the process length can be different for each woman, taking up to a year or more. Relaxin can remain in the body until up to 4 weeks after breastfeeding subsides. As long as relaxin remains in the body, a women is prone to pelvic instability and misalignments throughout the spine. It is critical to work with a qualified chiropractor before ligaments begin to tighten, as it can cause long-term problems if the joints are not properly aligned. Nutritional Support: Ensure that mother is getting proper nutrition to heal as well as provide a sufficient milk supply to feed her baby.

The normal birthing process places a tremendous amount of stress on the neck. If the baby's head presents in any position other than a Left Occiput Anterior (LOA), this can cause added stress. Any intervention such as vacuum or forceps causes additional trauma to the head and neck. Cesarean section is also considered a traumatic birth when considering the effects on the spine. In order to birth the shoulder, many obstetricians traction the head using between 40 and 70 pounds of pressure, this often causes damage to the cervical spine (neck) and the nerves that exit off the spine. Even if a child came through the birth process without spinal misalignments, they can be acquired as they grow. A baby's spine will grow 50% during their first year of life and whenever there is rapid growth, things can go wrong. Baby’s develop the secondary curves of the spine in the neck (as they learn to support their head) and low back (as they learn to walk). If these curves fail to develop, there is a greater chance that they will develop scoliosis, a curvature of the spine. Developmental processes like balancing their own head, learning to roll, sit and walk (and fall) places an extraordinary amount of stress on a child’s growing spine. Regular chiropractic checkups ensure that a child's spine is growing properly.

As kids get older, they become more active with more potential for physical trauma. If they play sports, that potential increases even further. Then consider the child who sits at the computer or hunches over his hand-held game! A spine free of misalignments means that children can endure more physical stress with less risk of injury or shortened healing time. Physical trauma, emotional strain and toxic stress can also cause spinal misalignments in all of us, but kids growing bodies are more susceptible. Many times children have accidents and parents may believe that they are fine because there is no external evidence of damage. Spinal misalignments sometimes don’t signal an obvious symptom. The earlier children’s spines are checked, the earlier problems can be detected, preventing health problems from occurring and becoming serious. All children should be checked regularly for nerve interference, even without symptoms present. Prevention is the best medicine. Emotional stress, another cause of vertebral subluxation, is becoming a bigger issue for kids today as they try to cope with common scenarios like divorce, violence, and peer pressure. Our world is also becoming more toxic with an increase in pollution, packaged foods, and the number of recommended vaccines. Toxic overload can stress the body and cause subluxations. Chiropractic can help children adapt to these stressors so that they can function at a higher level. If you know a child who is not under chiropractic care and suffers from any of the following problems, consider Chiropractic. Fever Colic Croup Allergies Wheezing Stomach ache Ear infection Neck/back pain Leg/hip/foot pain Headaches Coughs/Colds Asthma Constipation Skin problems Hearing loss Poor concentration Poor Posture Irritability Nervousness Learning disorder Sinus problems Eye problems Scoliosis Bed Wetting Arthritis Attention spectrum disorder(s)

Chiropractic care is for everyone! Many people associate chiropractic care with pain. Not true! Busy parents, grandparents, athletes, weekend warriors, golfers, tennis player, runners - really anyone can benefit a great deal from routine chiropractic care. Regular chiropractic visits may help maintain your busy life. Additionally, injuries are less likely to be serious and can heal at a significantly faster rate in those who receive regular chiropractic care, especially when combined with other healthy activities such as regular exercise and eating a nutritious diet. Chiropractic care can benefit many people with a great number of health conditions and even those with few, if any, health. Getting regular chiropractic adjustments can improve immune function keeping you healthy, which enhances your ability to think, move and perform. Improved mental clarity, higher quality sleep, better digestive function, and more are all things people who receive chiropractic care rave about, which makes sense since our brain communicates through the body's nervous system, sending messages via our spinal column Therefore, it is easy to see how taking care of this pathway is vital to every single part of our body. Routine chiropractic care is necessary to maintaining good overall health and can have a significant positive impact on your overall well-being.

There is a reason why athletes both today and in the past, like Michael Phelps, Jerry Rice and Joe Montana have been under regular chiropractic care. In fact, over 50 percent of NFL teams have a chiropractor on staff. Because it is so effective at pain-based and pathological conditions, one of the most overlooked aspects of chiropractic care is that it enhances personal and athletic performance. Studies have shown that it: Reduces inflammation Boosts your immune system Enhances circulation function Decreases mental and oxidative stress Relieves muscle tension And can naturally increase your energy level Studies have even proved, objectively and subjectively, that chiropractic patients experience “overall increased bodily function,” which includes bowel regularity and mental clarity. Simply put, it helps place your body in the position where it can heal itself, which means shortened healing time when injuries do occur.

Yes! Absolutley!

At Awaken Life Family Chiropractic we believe chiropractic care is different from conventional medicine. Health insurance was designed for expensive medical events or catastrophic occurrences that require medical procedures or hospitalizations. We view chiropractic care and good nutrition as tools to help you maintain your health, keep you moving and keep you out of the hospital. By not participating in insurance reimbursement programs our paperwork is less, our overhead is lower and it allows us more time to do what we really love ~ talk health and provide quality care on your terms!