Chiropractic represents a new current for maternity care. It is the promotion of health with an emphasis on safe outcomes through alignment of the spine for greater nervous system function. One can think of chiropractic care during pregnancy as an assurance for the nervous system—that miraculous conduit of intelligence—to be working to its fullest potential. One important outcome of this form of care is improved physiological function working on behalf of the pregnant and birthing woman. With normal physiology being the single greatest aid toward achieving a desired birth outcome, chiropractic offers a reassurance that is unparalleled.
Chiropractors have served as a preferred choice for many mothers who recognize its benefits, values and freedoms. Some of the benefits include an increase in physical ability and physiological well-being referred to above, but there is also the support and trust offered by the community of like-minded mothers and the collaborative network of experienced birth professionals aligned with the chiropractor. In an environment of trust without negative judgment, a woman has the room to find her own autonomy as she transitions into motherhood. To inspire this end, chiropractors inform us of the innate intelligence within every cell of the body, and work to align the nervous system with it.
Some chiropractors understand that this living intelligence influences biological function only, while others see it affecting the very decisions and actions we take in life. Regardless of this distinction, chiropractic represents a truly holistic approach to health, with a global perception of what causes well-being. The chiropractor focus on salutogenisis, a word that translates as the 'origins of well-being' offering pregnant women an important alternative to the pathogenic-centric care most often seen today.
The reality is that culture has successfully relegated pregnancy to the status of a disease requiring technocratic intervention. But even with very limited recorded improvements to birth outcomes, and sometimes even increased risks, provided by many of these interventions, millions of women are still led to give over their autonomy to the authority of technocratic procedures. Pregnancy should be a time to become informed. This does not mean new fears or authorities must dominate your life or informed conscious decisions.
Pregnancy is something quite different than a disease, (perhaps it’s exactly the opposite of it) and there should be no doubt about this in the mind of any pregnant woman under any form of care. Birth is at once a socio-cultural, biological, emotional, and spiritual event. And it gives any women undergoing it a unique opportunity to positively impact future generations instantaneously.
Mothers who are given the confidence and support to give birth without looming fears or unnecessary interventions are on a path of well-being that transcends the individual, culture, and time itself, affecting nothing less than the whole world for the better.
With the integration of the nervous system and with the support that honors a woman’s strengths and autonomy, we can harness the birth experience, “take birth back” so-to-speak, and become the natural guardians of the future of our family and the human family at large. It’s time that women reclaim this power.
Chiropractic care that focuses on the natural power and ability of the birthing woman inspires the pathway forward into motherhood. Pregnancy can be a time of building confidence and trust in the body. It can be a time for positive emotional and physical well-being.
*This article was taken from Pathways To Family Wellness Magazine September 12 2018