Is it safe to be adjusted by a chiropractor when pregnant?”

We often get asked this in our practice and while we tailor our management and treatment specifically to every patient including babies, toddlers, children, adolescents, adults, the elderly and pregnant mums of all gestational ages, studies have confirmed that chiropractic care is safe for both mum and babies during pregnancy[1],[2].
 
Many changes are occurring in pregnant mums as they are growing their baby and can include many physical changes, hormonal changes and emotional stressors.  Aside from that, approximately 75% of pregnant mum’s report suffering from back or pelvic pain[3].   One study on 115 pregnant women found that there was a 70% improvement in pain within 1 month of being under chiropractic care[4].
 
Chiropractic adjustments also help relax pelvic floor muscle at rest which may also help increase the likelihood of having a natural vaginal delivery.  Another study conducted showed that new mums experienced on average a 25% reduction in labour time when under chiropractic care through pregnancy and this rose to 31% reduction in labour time for mothers who were under care and also given birth previously[5]. However, these were small studies and require further investigation.
 
So if you are pregnant or know somebody who is that is experiencing back or pelvic pain, we would love to see if we can help in managing their pain and help them enjoy the magical experience of their pregnancy and birth.

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REFERENCES
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[1] Stuber, K. J., Wynd, S., & Weis, C. A. (2012). Adverse events from spinal manipulation in the pregnant and postpartum periods: a critical review of the literature. Chiropractic & manual therapies, 20, 8. https://doi.org/10.1186/2045-709X-20-8

[2] Borggren C. L. (2007). Pregnancy and chiropractic: a narrative review of the literature. Journal of chiropractic medicine, 6(2), 70–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcme.2007.04.004
 
[3] Malmqvist, S., Kjaermann, I., Andersen, K., Økland, I., Brønnick, K., & Larsen, J. P. (2012). Prevalence of low back and pelvic pain during pregnancy in a Norwegian population. Journal of manipulative and physiological therapeutics, 35(4), 272-278.
 
[4] Peterson, C. K., Mühlemann, D., & Humphreys, B. K. (2014). Outcomes of pregnant patients with low back pain undergoing chiropractic treatment: a prospective cohort study with short term, medium term and 1 year follow-up. Chiropractic & manual therapies, 22(1), 15.
 
[5] Borggren, C. L. (2007). Pregnancy and chiropractic: a narrative review of the literature. Journal of chiropractic medicine, 6(2), 70-74.