It’s no secret that there are connections between different systems in the body, but a question we’ve seen come up a lot lately with our prenatal patients is about the jaw and pelvic floor connection.
So, what exactly IS the jaw and pelvic floor connection, and how can prenatal chiropractic play a part in helping pregnant mamas experience an easier pregnancy, labor, and delivery?
A Holistic Approach to Pregnancy Wellness
The traditional medical system treats symptoms, but most of our patients are focused on preventing disease.
Our pregnant patients come to Bloom Well Family Wellness because they are looking for a holistic approach to prenatal care. Having a prenatal chiropractor on your birth team has many benefits, including nervous system balance, reduced nausea symptoms, relief from back and hip pain, and preparing the body for birth.
In addition to pregnancy chiropractic care, our prenatal chiropractic clinic in Springfield, Missouri uses Spinning Babies techniques, myofascial release and cupping therapy to help our mamas have healthier pregnancies and more comfortable labors.
What are the Benefits of Prenatal Chiropractic Care?
Chiropractic care for pregnancy starts with the nervous system. Your nervous system controls every function in your body, and when your spine is aligned, your nervous system functions optimally.
Besides nervous system balance, additional prenatal chiropractic benefits include:
- Alleviating pregnancy discomforts (pelvic pain, sciatic pain)
- Minimizing nausea
- Reducing heartburn
- Provides relief from pain and discomfort in the back, neck, and joints
- Reduces stress
- Improves immunity during pregnancy
- Improves sleep
There are a few chiropractic techniques we use to get these results for our prenatal patients. One of those techniques is The Webster technique.
How The Webster Technique Improves Pregnancy Discomfort: Reducing Pregnancy Pain with Chiropractic
The Webster chiropractic technique is a special pregnancy chiropractic technique that focuses on aligning the pelvis and reducing tension in the uterus.
What makes this technique great is that we use specific and gentle adjustments to remove restrictions in the sacroiliac joints. We also check tension in the ligaments and muscles that are connected to the uterus and sacrum. We use our hands to gently provide relief from tension on one side of the body, which can pull the uterus, and make it smaller on one side. With more room for baby to move, there is a better chance that baby will be head-down.
Many of our prenatal patients share similar discomforts. Common pregnancy discomforts include:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Backache
- Fatigue
- Constipation
- Dizziness
- Headaches
- Hip pain
- Insomnia
- Sciatica
The Webster technique reduces tension in the pelvis by removing subluxations, allowing your nervous system to function optimally! The Webster technique doesn’t JUST help reduce common pregnancy discomforts by helping with pelvic alignment, it’s also used to reduce tension in the uterus and pelvis, and it’s effective.
Pregnancy Webster Technique: The Impact on Birth
The Webster technique was deemed a success in the summer of 2002 when the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics reported an 82% success rate of babies being in the vertex position when chiropractors used the Webster technique on their patients.
The Webster technique works with your pelvis in a lot of ways, including helping to establish balance and ensuring baby has enough space to develop during pregnancy. When the pelvis is tight, babies can get stuck and find themselves unable to turn into a vertex, or head down, position.
In addition to the Webster technique, we also perform connective tissue therapy on our patients. Why is connective therapy so important for pregnancy? 4 words… pelvic floor – jaw connection.
The Connection Between Your Jaw and Pelvic Floor: A Story of Connective Tissues
The jaw, neck and pelvic floor are connected through myofascial tissues. There are channels of fascia that connect the whole body through individual muscle fibers, groups of muscles, organs, blood vessels, nerves and the brain. Recent research on fascia has shown that there is communication between the channels. This communication is related to immunity, movement, and even mental health.
Stress or anxiety can create tension in the jaw and pelvic floor. Incorporating connective tissue therapy in the jaw just makes sense for prenatal patients looking to reduce pelvic pain and relax the pelvic floor.
During a prenatal adjustment, we identify and remove tension in the pelvis with the Webster Technique. We use a gloved hand to work inside the cheek and jaw to reduce the tension in the fascial system between the jaw and pelvic floor. We also work on the muscles in the neck, back and hips with myofascial release and cupping therapy.
Cupping Therapy for Prenatal Patients: Decrease Muscle Tension Naturally
We love using cupping therapy on our prenatal patients! Cupping therapy works by hydrating the fascia by drawing it into a medical-grade plastic cup and leaving it in place until the tissues underneath receive adequate blood flow. We are looking for a dark red change under the skin, and there is no bleeding with our technique. Cupping therapy has so many benefits, which include:
- Increased blood flow
- Reduced tension
- Connective tissue mobility and healing
Cupping therapy is great for prenatal patients who are experiencing pain, feeling tight, or who need a release from muscle tension.
At Bloom Well Family Wellness, we are dedicated to serving Springfield, Missouri families with a holistic approach to pregnancy wellness. We support women during all stages of motherhood, including pre-conception, prenatal, and postpartum. We also offer family chiropractic care, acupuncture, and dry needling. Contact us today to set up your first appointment!
