Webster Technique
Prenatal Chiropractic Care
From the moment of conception, pregnant women experience daily physical, chemical, and emotional changes. Pregnancy is a miraculous time that can allow you to connect deeply with your body, partner, and baby. The Webster Technique and prenatal chiropractic allow your body to move through this transformative time with as much ease as possible. Gentle and specific chiropractic adjustments make it easier to navigate pregnancy with ease, so you can enjoy and focus on the wonder of this magnificent time.
Balancing the pelvic bones, muscles, and ligaments and improving physiology sets the stage for a natural birth. Whether you are trying to conceive or are already pregnant, having a neuro-spinal system working at its best creates the optimal environment for a healthy, comfortable pregnancy.
Dr. Nathan Gerowitz is Webster certified and a member of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA).
The Sacral Nerve Interference
Nerve Interference, where the sacrum joins the pelvis, is quite common during pregnancy. Sacral nerve interference may cause the tightening and twisting of pelvic muscles and ligaments, constraining the uterus. This interference can produce a variety of symptoms in mothers preparing for the culmination of their pregnancy, including longer labor times and breech presentations.
When the mother’s pelvis is out of alignment, the ligaments that connect from the pelvis to the uterus increase their tension (tone) resulting in a distortion to the uterine space.
– Pathways to Family Wellness
The adjustment aims to improve pelvic balance, reduce the effects of nerve interference, and the associated dysfunction of the sacroiliac joint. This adjustment helps release stress on the pelvis, relaxing surrounding ligaments and reducing the sacral nerve interference to help restore a more normal function.
Dr. Don MacDonald offers a great analogy:
Clarity on the Webster Technique During Pregnancy
“Increased tone is like sleeping in a bed with someone sitting on the sheets beside you. Can you turn over freely? No.”
For the baby, the surrounding walls of the uterus tighten with pelvic imbalance, becoming more and more like tight bedsheets that restrict her motion. The chiropractic adjustment to the pelvis releases tension to the ligaments and uterus so that the baby can move freely and assume the best possible position for birth.
A High Success Rate
According to the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 82 percent of chiropractors using the Webster Technique reported success in reducing the sacral nerve interference. Sometimes when using the Webster Technique, the associated dysfunction of the sacroiliac joint can be reduced with just one adjustment. It usually takes between three to 10 visits over a several-week period.
Research reveals that women who receive regular chiropractic care carry and deliver with more comfort. Specifically, with Vitalistic chiropractic adjustments, mothers decreased the need for analgesics by half during their delivery and experienced a 24 percent reduction in labor time.
Because the Webster Technique relies on the inborn intelligence of the mother and baby, there is little risk. The Webster Technique is based on the positive experiences of pregnant patients, the clinical expertise of its many practitioners, academic studies on the subject of sacral nerve interference and its consequences to proper pelvic function.
Williams Obstetrics tells us there are three components for a smoother birth for both mother and baby:
POWER: The nervous system (Power) operates in all body processes, including childbirth. For birth to proceed as it was naturally designed to, the nervous system must facilitate the transmission of information through the body. By removing interferences and imbalances to the nervous system, chiropractic care helps lead to a normal, physiological birth.
PASSAGE: For the baby to descend through the birth canal (Passage), the balance of the mother’s pelvis is vitally important. With chiropractic care, the muscles and ligaments of the pelvis and uterus can move and function for the benefit of the mother and the baby. The result is greater ease and comfort in pregnancy and birth.
PASSENGER: The baby (Passenger) wants to get into the best possible position to descend through the birth canal. The movements inherent to the birthing baby will be positively facilitated when the mother’s nervous system is optimally functioning and her pelvis balanced. Birth is a cooperative endeavor, where the mom and the baby play vitally connected roles.
