pregnancy

Why does my Baby need Chiropractic?

Dr. Amanda Love Leave a comment

Being born is stressful work! Imagine being curled up in a tight (yet quiet) space for several months and then being pushed, squeezed and pulled through a small opening to meet bright lights, sounds and a whole world of novelty and stimulation. We all went through some version of this experience. Even though the end result is a beautiful (and hopefully healthy) new baby, the journey can be filled with physical, emotional and chemical stress for baby and mom (and dad too).

Approximately 30 of every 1000 births result in physical birth trauma, including things such as broken bones, oxygen deprivation, and nerve injury to the face or neck and arm. 5% of vaginal births use assisted methods (vacuum or forceps) to help with delivery, which has been associated with skull fractures and bleeding in the brain. 63% of women receive epidurals/spinal blocks to reduce labor pain (epidural usage increases the need for assisted methods, creates a longer labor and increases fetal distress). 32% of births are now by cesarean section, which exposes baby to more chemical stress from surgical procedures and decreases their innate immunity that they receive from a vaginal delivery.

You can see that babies, even before they are fully born are being exposed to a myriad of different stressors. There are 3 types of main stressors: physical, emotional/mental and chemical.

Physical stressors can come from the delivery process, learning to crawl and walk and birth injuries.

Emotional/mental stressors that babies are exposed to can be from not being touched in the right ways, getting too much or not enough stimulation and not having their needs met.

Chemical stressors are from surgical birth procedures, vaccines, environmental toxins, formula additives and more.

Stress effects the nervous system (brain, spinal cord and nerves). The nervous system is your body’s communication network and its development and function is critical to having a healthy body and baby. Everyone has a certain amount of adaptability within their nervous system, some more than others. This is why some people get sick more easily than others or why some have sensitivities to sounds, lights, touch, and foods that others might not have.

The good news is that you can increase your adaptability. This is the pivotal role that chiropractic plays in your baby’s health. Chiropractic works by helping your nervous system work better so that everything inside of your body can function better. It increases the communication between life and your organs, glands and cells in your body, which creates vitality. It helps you work with all of those different stressors that you are experiencing so that instead of creating bound up tension patterns (which later create dysfunction and disease in your body), your body can stay open, communicating, and internally healthy.

Not just sick babies (or people for that matter) can benefit from chiropractic. Anyone who has a spine and has been exposed to daily life stressors benefits from greater levels of ease and communication in the nervous system.

Dr. Amanda Hessel, DC, MS, L.Ac

If you live in the Boulder/Denver area and want more information on how to support your baby’s health naturally please visit: http://bodymindalchemyboulder.com/events-calendar/in-office-talks/

Dr. Hessel will be speaking on this very topic and is teaming with birth doula, Emily Blank who will discuss the therapeutic benefits of essential oils for a calm, happy baby. You must register to attend & class is free. Tuesday September 8th, 2015 at 7p

Preconception Care: Creating the most Nurturing Inner Environment for a Healthy, Happy, & Empowered Baby!

Dr. Amanda Love Leave a comment

Are you an Aspiring mother or father?
Have you had trouble Getting or Staying pregnant?
Are you a couple who wants to plan a Conscious pregnancy?

Preconception care is a natural way to optimize fertility and ensure a healthy pregnancy. The basic premise is that a healthy body is a fertile body and will support a healthy baby. It aims to have both prospective parents be as healthy as possible prior to conception attempts.

Preconception care helps couples who are experiencing functional infertility, those having had recurrent miscarriages or couples who are proactively planning a pregnancy. There are 3 basic components to preconception care. 1: regulating your body’s response to stress and creating a safe inner environment in your body for a baby, 2: getting the proper nutritional requirements needed make healthy eggs and sperm, and 3: lifestyle changes that support a healthy body.

There are two types of infertility, structural and functional. Structural infertility implies a challenge in the structure of your body that impairs your ability to get or stay pregnant. Functional infertility is an inability to conceive that is related to physiological difficulties such as hormonal challenges, regulation of the stress response, age, nutritional deficiencies, inflammation, and weight. Preconception care is helpful for those with functional fertility challenges.

Even if you have no known difficulty getting or staying pregnant preconception care is extremely important in helping create the healthiest baby possible. In the U.S. 17% of children are diagnosed with a learning or behavioral disability according to the CDC. Over 10 million children wake up and take a schedule II psychotropic drug to control their behavior and diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and allergies in children are on the rise. Also many now common conditions such as low birth weight, premature birth, malformation, breastfeeding difficulties, asthma, eczema & poor resistance to infection are often preventable with proactive care.

The health of you, including your energy levels, sleep patterns, thoughts, habits and what you focus on are incredibly important during preconception time and after conception as well. Supporting your body’s physiology to be in a receptive, safe, and empowered state is key. The quality of your egg and sperm at the time of conception is also vital in creating a cellular template that creates a healthy baby. There is a 4 month window prior to conception where it is pivotal to support your body’s response to stress, get the proper nutritional requirements, and engage and/or avoid certain lifestyle habits so that you create the best eggs and sperm possible.

Through these basic, yet essential 3 components, you create the safest and most nurturing space inside your body to foster the growth and development of a healthy, happy and empowered baby!

Dr. Amanda Hessel, DC, MS, L.Ac

For more information please visit: http://bodymindalchemyboulder.com/womens-wellbeing/fertility-pregnancy

Also if you live in the Boulder, Colorado area Dr. Hessel will be providing a free educational class on Preconception Care on Thursday April 2nd at 7p-8:30p at Studio Be Yoga, 1676 30th Street, Boulder, CO. You must call 303-587-9437 to reserve your spot.