Parents often ask why a newborn baby should be checked by a chiropractor?
We briefly discussed why I am particularly passionate about babies and children being adjusted in the blog, “All Babies Deserve To Have Their Nervous System Checked!”
According to Gutmann(1), a researcher who examined the effects of the birth process, “The trauma from the birth process remains an under-publicised and therefore significantly under-treated problem.”
There are many factors that can cause birth trauma, including:
- false labour,
- a long or very short labour,
- failure of the mother’s cervix to dilate,
- the use of drugs to increase contraction intensity,
- the use of vacuum extraction or forceps,
- caesarean section delivery because of lack of progress,
- cord around the baby’s neck, incorrect positioning in the uterus or birth canal,
- foetal distress.
Unfortunately, many couples are unaware that using pain relief during labour often leads to a more complicated birth, potentially involving forceps and ventouse.
Chiropractors are trained to assess and ease the effects of birth trauma. Ideally, babies should be checked and adjusted as soon as possible after birth to help alleviate spinal problems and nerve distress that may have benn caused by:
• Constraint or abnormal positioning in the uterus.
• Spinal distress from the journey through the birth canal.
• Spinal distress during the delivery process itself.
Over 1500 babies were studied periodically across an eight year period by Viola Frymann (2), an American osteopathic doctor. All babies were examined within the first five days of birth; in fact, many were checked within the first 24 hours of birth. This study revealed that approximately:
• 10% of the newborn babies had perfect, freely mobile skulls or cranial mechanisms.
• 10% had severe trauma to the head, evident even to untrained observers.
• The remaining 80% all had some strain patterns in the cranial mechanism.
Therefore, this fascinating study revealed that at least 90% of the babies involved had suffered birth trauma and associated strain through the neck and cranial areas.
Literature indicates that there are both short and long-term side-effects for a baby’s health when nerve interference is evident. These effects are discussed in the blog “What Are The Possible Effects of Birth Trauma?”
These studies are part of an expanding body of research which supports less invasive approaches for delivery and corroborates the benefits of assessing a newborn’s spine and nervous system.
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