Ep 201: The Essential Role of Chiropractic Care in Pregnancy

In this episode of the Aligned Birth Podcast, hosts Dr. Shannon and doula Rachael delve into the Webster technique, a specialized chiropractic approach for prenatal care. They discuss common misconceptions about chiropractic care during pregnancy, emphasizing its importance beyond just addressing breech presentations. The conversation highlights the role of the pelvis and sacrum in fetal positioning, the gentle nature of chiropractic adjustments, and the significance of individualized care for pregnant women. They also explore the connection between nervous system function and overall health during pregnancy, advocating for a holistic approach to maternal care.

• The Webster technique is often misunderstood and is not just for breech babies.
• Prenatal chiropractic care is essential for overall maternal health.
• The pelvis and sacrum play a crucial role in fetal positioning.
• Gentle adjustments are key in chiropractic care for pregnant women.
• Finding a certified chiropractor is important for effective care.
• Chiropractic care should be individualized based on each mother's needs.
• The relationship between the mother and baby is dynamic and important.
• Nervous system function is critical for a healthy pregnancy.
• Holistic benefits of chiropractic care extend beyond physical adjustments.
• Regular chiropractic care can reveal underlying issues that may not be immediately apparent.

Transcript

Aligned Birth Podcast (00:01.548)

Hello, this is the Aligned Birth Podcast where we talk about all things perinatal. So preconception, birth, pregnancy, labor birth, postpartum, motherhood and beyond. Today, you've got both hosts here. So Dula Rachel's here, I'm Dr. Shannon. And I guess a little bit of today is talking about the Webster technique. So this is a specific

Chiropractic analysis and adjustment that's done for prenatal patients and I think when Rachel and I were chatting and coming up with what we want to talk about with this episode or why do this because obviously we've talked about Webster technique before but I still feel like there are some misconceptions with it and so like

what is it really and the aspect of there doesn't have to be a problem or an issue or a fetal malposition per se for someone to want to get prenatal chiropractic care. So that's kind of the goal of what we want to talk about today with the Webster technique. yeah, so I don't know, we'll probably start with there. So hi Rachel, how are you?

Rachael (01:25.122)

Dr. Shannon, I am very well, thank you. Yeah, I think this comes up a lot for us. I would work with a lot of pregnant people and I think there's just some, sometimes misunderstanding of what Webster technique is, why it's important beyond when there's a problem. That chiropractic care is really beneficial for just general like.

care, not just when baby's malpositioned or you're having pains. And it's so in my brain, like it's such a default that chiropractic care is like essential to like during pregnancy and postpartum and beyond that I forget that some people might be hearing Webster technique for the first time and how they're introduced to it might be surrounding

something like a breach presentation, which is when babies butt or feet down versus head down. And that would be the only reason they would need to go find a Webster certified chiropractor. And I don't think that's fully true, but you're going to help us understand that because I think just think that's good for people to understand sort of the what it is, why we do it, why it's beneficial. And no one better to teach us than you.

Aligned Birth Podcast (02:36.32)

Yay! yes, because I'm in the bubble. I am in a chiropractic, holistic, healthcare bubble. And sometimes I forget that people don't live in this bubble with me and maybe don't like understand all the things. Everyone was like, chiropractic school. Like chiropractic school is beautiful. It's you're in this amazing bubble and everybody gets it and y'all talk about health and salutogenesis and it's all this good stuff that you get out in the real world and you're like,

What's going on? Why is no one in my bubble? So I wanna bring everybody into my chiropractic bubble to expand on, I don't know, the potential and possibilities with prenatal care. I wanna start with the Webster-specific definition. so it is, the Webster technique is a specific chiropractic analysis and diversified adjustment. The goal of the adjustment is to reduce the effects of subluxation and or SI, secretly at joint dysfunction, in so doing,

neuro biomechanical function in the sacral and pelvic region is improved. So that is a lot of words that are from the, know, right? So we're gonna go through that a little bit easier, but that is the specific definition from the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association. So the ICPA, they're the ones that host the Webster training. And so I just recently retook my Webster certification with my dear friend.

Rachael (03:40.238)

Give it to me simple sister.

Aligned Birth Podcast (04:02.526)

Dr. Pamela Stone McCoy and we had her on an episode as well too and it was fantastic and it was so good to hear all the information again and go back into the bubble. It was so nice to go back into the chiropractic bubble. But I think one thing I want to mention in that definition is nowhere in there is there anything about the baby. So I recently, I guess I'll share this, but I recently had a new patient come to the office. She told her provider,

Rachael (04:12.841)

you

Aligned Birth Podcast (04:31.81)

that she was going to get adjusted and they asked her, are you gonna go see the chiropractor when your baby is not breeched? And I was like, you are not in my bubble. So I would love to bring this provider into my bubble. So yeah, yeah. Not everybody's in my bubble. yeah.

Rachael (04:48.578)

which is just an example that lots of people don't fully understand it, even educated and caring individuals in the prenatal world.

Aligned Birth Podcast (05:00.278)

want to acknowledge the fact that hopefully she would have referred this patient if baby was breech, she would have referred her to a prenatal Webster certified chiropractor. So hooray, I want to acknowledge that, but I also want to push a little bit in the aspect of it's so much more than that. So definitely with prenatal care, we're not, it's nothing about the baby.

Do not practice obstetrics. So anytime I any sort of adjustment It is all about the mom and the mom's pelvis and the sacrum. So I want to break it down of that definition I gave this is how I Talk about in the office. I have my little like spine and it's got the pelvis with it and I pull that out And I say there's a lot going on in this pelvic region when we are

pregnant and so uterus is housed in that anterior portion to the spine and it's held in place by the broad ligament and so the broad ligament has a couple of other ligaments that come off of it and so you've got uterus sacral and then you got the round ligament. There are more parts and specifics to this. I keep it really really simple though.

And so you've got this uterus sacral ligament and you've got the round ligament that keeps the uterus from going too far forward, too far back, broad ligament keeps it too, you know, from being too high, too low, keeps it right in that nice little area. So if the uterus is attached to the bones of the pelvis and the sacrum, if we have misalignments in the bones of the pelvis and the sacrum, and it doesn't have to be gross misalignments, it doesn't have to be, it can be small shifts, then you are gonna get small shifts, tension, twist, torsion in the uterus.

which is then going to impact how well the fetus moves. That's the biomechanical aspect of Webster technique. So when I'm looking at adjusting pelvis and sacrum, I'm looking at, okay, how can we balance this to allow for optimal fetal position, but through mom's pelvis?

Aligned Birth Podcast (07:06.402)

There's also the aspect of, I want the aches and the pains to go away too because there's other muscles. The muscles of the legs are, know, and the psoas muscle, all of these are all connected to lumbar spine, pelvis, sacrum as well too. So when you've got that, then you can get some of the sciatic type pain or, know, round leg pain. All of those are the things, yes, those pain points in there. I do want to address those and I want those to go away, but I also want something bigger and better for mom. So that's that bio...

mechanical aspects of things when we're looking at to me the neurology point that's when it goes a little bit deeper into what does optimal nervous system function look like in pregnancy so I kind of try to break it down into this is what people can see and feel and then touching on like stress points so we'll go into that little in a minute but I wanted to pause there

in case there was anything. Does that sound good? Okay.

Rachael (08:08.127)

It's yeah, no, it's so good and it's something I always want to like be able to regurgitate to our clients and I'm like so I'm like mentally like save it away save it away because when you say it and you explain it like how like the the ligaments it's basically like the uterus and the pelvis and sacrum are all like interacting with each other and

Aligned Birth Podcast (08:14.594)

Say goodbye.

Aligned Birth Podcast (08:23.05)

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (08:28.812)

Mm-hmm.

Rachael (08:30.23)

and it doesn't have to be a huge misalignment for it to limit space available for the baby to move around and get into their optimal position or giving them the best chance at that. So that's just a really cool visual that I kind of got there and that I hope other people can get. So because I do think it's really helpful to understand how this technique can impact.

Aligned Birth Podcast (08:36.898)

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (08:47.979)

Mm-hmm.

Rachael (08:56.138)

that dance, that connection between the uterus and the pelvis and the sacrum and how I think another part I guess I would love for you to elaborate on and maybe you're going to but it's about how how gentle of an adjustment it is. Again I think misconception with chiropractic care is that it's always yanking and cracking.

Aligned Birth Podcast (08:57.376)

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (09:08.844)

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (09:15.446)

Well, exactly. Here's where the specifics of prenatal care comes in, chiropractic related, because even Dr. Pam in the Webster certification class, says, she always says, anybody can come in and rub on a belly. Like it's the specifics of it, the specificity of care and being trained in what we're looking for and how the prenatal body is different. And so things are going to look a little bit.

different. There's a bone, muscle, and ligament we work with on posterior side of patient and then bone, muscle, and ligament we work with on anterior side. it's going to be exactly. And so if you're just looking at

Rachael (09:55.736)

So back and front.

Aligned Birth Podcast (10:04.94)

pelvis and sacrum, and we'll just focus on that now, I do a full spine approach. Every office is different. There's 200 different adjusting techniques. you you're gonna get differences there, but I also look at that tensegrity in the spine and the whole fascial system. So not only is the uterus attached to the bony ligaments or to the bones of the pelvis, but the whole fascial system, the muscles are all connected in the body as well too.

And so that's where I'm looking at a generalized, I am going to look at adjusting other areas of the spine as I see fit. It's not using whatever analysis techniques too. So, but just for this purpose right now, I wanted to go over what are the three points posterior, three points anterior, but you're working on, so when patients laying on their belly, we're looking at pelvis and sacrum. So we're doing the pelvis and sacral adjustment. We're working on piriformis muscle, which is a deep glute muscle and gets real sassy, gets real sassy.

with pregnancy and then a sacro-tuberous ligament as well too. And when patient flips over and laying on their back, we're working on pubic bone. So as muscle as well, which is a lumbar muscle comes around inserts in on the hip and then the round ligament as well too, which a lot of people hear. So there's some specifics to the...

analysis and technique when we're adjusting the patient. But even within those things, there's different ways, because I wanted to speak on like that gentleness. So there's different tools or things that can be used to adjust. know, there's there's hands and male adjusting, there's instrument adjusting, there's table that can pop up and drop down adjusting. And there's even ones there's something called Montgomery sacral release where we're putting pressure, but the patient is actually moving and shimming the hips, which

If we've got a really hypermobile pelvis, which is something we want to look at too in prenatal care, we want to try different things. So it can get very specific, but I think what I want to hit on is that's why you want to go to someone who is Webster certified, and that they know the specifics of what they're looking for, and they're not just going to like bang around on things and do things that necessarily don't need to happen with a pelvic that's pregnant. A pregnant pelvis.

Rachael (12:24.622)

Pregnant, yeah, the pregnant body. The pregnant body is different. And so I think people looking for chiropractic care need to remember that. I mean, they're pregnant, so they know it, but like sometimes like you assume maybe all chiropractors have that training and experience. knowing that it's, hearing you talk about it, it's very specific, it's very detailed, and it's very individual based on the person's, like if you said, if someone's hypermobile, you can't really know that until get your hands on

Aligned Birth Podcast (12:28.502)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (12:50.069)

yeah. yeah.

Rachael (12:54.646)

somebody then you change kind of what you're doing and so they really need to understand what to look for and how to treat the body so what how could someone because I think we came up with this we were talking about this too because I see it in

Aligned Birth Podcast (12:57.58)

changes.

Rachael (13:11.95)

Facebook a lot and the Facebook groups about people looking for chiropractic care and anyone who's a birth worker is like Webster certified you know make sure they know what they're doing and all of this how does someone go about making sure that who they're with is meeting their needs

Aligned Birth Podcast (13:27.434)

so What comes up a lot in those groups is that you can search the icpa website? and they've got a directory and so they're going to list the people that are that you can put in like a Your zip code and it can give you like a mileage radius and so you'll have people that the diplomates, in the program are going to be mentioned first and then maybe some of the

It's CACCP. can't remember. It's like a certified, but that's like the pediatric certification. Sometimes those are listed next and then it'll say Webster certified on there as well, too. So if you're just cold-calling looking for someone. That happens. I don't know how many people do that. A lot of times people are going in and asking friends or referrals or googling or something and it should say somewhere on their website that they are Webster certified and that they've taken.

to guarantee that they've got that certification, you can go to see if they're listed on the ICPA website as well. So that's like ideally what you would do. But it's also gonna be a bit of like what they're talking about on their website and then patient experiences, their reviews or whatnot as well too. You can kind of get a feel for that. That's the main, that would be the main areas.

Rachael (14:28.386)

Mm-hmm.

Rachael (14:49.826)

Yeah, yep, so double checking on the website, word of mouth, talking to someone who's gone to them and then kind of see what they're presenting. Are they on their website? Like kind of, does it seem like they're speaking to serving the pregnant community and postpartum community or does it feel like they're serving general population?

Aligned Birth Podcast (14:53.419)

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (14:59.456)

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (15:09.566)

Right, and I will say this. There are gonna be chiropractors at the joint that are Webster certified, and then there's gonna be offices with 16 other providers that are very, very large, and they have a doctor that's Webster certified, and then you're have like the one-woman show, and they're Webster certified. So it doesn't have to look a certain way either. So I do wanna mention that, because I know...

because even just in knowing the Webster directory as far as, because I will use that. If I have a patient going somewhere, I will go to the ICPA website. I'll put in where they're going to go, where they're going to move. And I have patients reach out to me for friends in other places. And so I will go and search. I will see what websites come up. And then I actually go to the website. And then I look to see, OK, I know what I do. Then I look to see, OK, does this look

Rachael (15:51.79)

Mm.

Rachael (15:55.787)

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (16:01.898)

legit, does this look like something, you know? So I've done that for patients in Athens, Florida, like all over the place. So that's also something too. But that certification is something that is I think important and key and something to look for in that prenatal care. We talked about the different ways to adjust. don't force adjustments on anyone. I like having all of those tools in my tool belt to

Rachael (16:02.892)

Yeah,

Cool, that's great, that's super helpful. Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (16:31.458)

meet patients where they're at and meet their body where they're at as well too because even then they change throughout pregnancy. it's just kind of every time they come in, they're different. And so it's looking at that body and it doesn't necessarily take the same thing every time.

Rachael (16:52.718)

Yeah, it's not always a guarantee or a straightforward like do X, Y, Z and it'll improve or change anything. It's so individual and based on how the body responds to the adjustments.

Aligned Birth Podcast (16:55.318)

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (16:59.497)

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (17:03.498)

Especially too, because if I've got a mom who drives an hour to work every day and sits at a desk every day, it is completely different than a mom who's chasing a toddler every day. I'm gonna tell you that right now. So, you know, your care plans are gonna be different. Exactly. Your at home exercises are going to be different. They're very individualized. Now I have certain things where I want, I really love, you know, hands and knees across the board. There's certain things where I'd like that for everybody.

Rachael (17:13.494)

Mm-hmm. Yeah, for different reasons. have different... Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (17:30.304)

but we may add some extra things in, maybe some robozo stuff if we're sitting at a desk all day or our feet are popped up or something like that. there's specifics and that's what you're also gonna get when you go to someone that's Webster certified. They're gonna have some other nuggets and other specific information that you can get that you may not get otherwise as well too. So.

Rachael (17:37.282)

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Rachael (17:52.302)

Well, that you don't understand the, you know, people who are learning through working with someone like yourself or who is Webster certified and really focused on the pregnant body and that community and postpartum and babies and such. like you have, it's like you're able to provide so much more than just the adjustment. Like it's not just an adjustment. You're looking at so many other factors. you said, just that one example of are you commuting or are you at home with kids? You know, like those, those

Aligned Birth Podcast (18:21.132)

Totally.

Rachael (18:22.456)

because it's how we're doing what they're doing with their daily life and not right or wrong, but it's adjusting course of care.

Aligned Birth Podcast (18:26.006)

Mm-hmm. Mm-mm. This is where we're at. I'm meeting you where you're at. Mm-hmm.

Rachael (18:32.095)

Yeah, and so that's super, super important. And then like other things you can drip in there to help them, you know, because there's the emotional well-being and then there's stress levels and, you know, where else they have tension in their body and you're assessing that whole. And so I think someone who's focused on working with the pregnant population and the certification training and that education, it's like you're

Aligned Birth Podcast (18:40.716)

lot. That comes up a lot.

Rachael (18:57.73)

You're highly specialized, and so I would encourage people to reach out and seek out care from those who are similar.

Aligned Birth Podcast (19:04.558)

Mm-hmm you mentioned it's kind of a good segue into there's I Wanted to touch on the not necessarily the pain points I feel like I don't like to talk about that a lot, but I mean there's a lot of Pregnant people that deal with aches and pains like I'm not I'm not denying that

but there are some other things I wanted to mention in that what getting adjusted during your pregnancy can do. And so obviously that first one is kind of allowing for optimal fetal positioning. One also allowing, and we mentioned that like the dance, that's what I like to call it, is the dance between mom and baby, especially in...

Rachael (19:36.867)

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (19:54.403)

Not necessarily like the prenatal phase. Yeah, there's that but that's like the birth phase because it's not It's not a straight. It's not a straight shot I mean, I think it'd be kind of cool. So you just be ah push and then it's gone There's like there's turns and dances and shimmies and you know crown cranial molding and a shoulder and and all of that has to come out so It's it to me. It's more than just oh baby's head down. Everything's great. It's like do we have a pelvis?

that is going to allow for this dance to happen. And so that is, that to me is super important as well. And I...

Rachael (20:36.558)

It's almost like that's more important and then baby's position after that is almost like secondary.

Aligned Birth Podcast (20:40.254)

Mm-hmm. Yeah, like I want to And that's where I'm like it's the aspect of we sitting back and leaning back too much and having our feet propped up because I know it's long days but then the heaviest part of the baby is a spine and then that rocks down to the bottom and then you get sunny side up and You can still have a vaginal birth, but it could be a little bit more difficult doesn't have to be

but then also even if we're in that sunny side up position, because both of mine were like that. I had a cesarean with my first and I had my V-back with my second. And I know that when I got adjusted with the second, I still had that posterior. I didn't get adjusted till way late in the game, there was, movement was allowed because I do remember the midwife was able to help assist him with that turn and then have that bachelor birth and I didn't have that.

that stuck position again. So that's what I kind of mean as far as like it's also allowing that dance a bit too. So, cause sometimes at mom's. yeah.

Rachael (21:40.536)

Well, cause sometimes babies come in with a posterior baby. Like sometimes that position is just how babies enter your pelvis. Like some people just, that's just how it is. And that's why we really, we try to encourage our clients not to get so, so hung up on it. Cause then that's counterproductive. Yeah. Because it's more about supporting the body so that whatever position baby's in the body can receive it. And that's where like the core of your care is at. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I get that.

Aligned Birth Podcast (21:46.742)

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (21:52.269)

get so stuck on it sometimes and I don't want that to get, my gosh, baby's posterior, yes. That I just, it's, yeah. Yeah. That's what I want, that fluidity. Yeah, no. So I mean, it's important. I'm not trying to knock it, but I don't like seeing moms get so stressed and fixated and hung up on it where I'm like, ugh.

Rachael (22:13.442)

yeah, yeah, yeah.

Rachael (22:18.349)

Yep.

Aligned Birth Podcast (22:19.55)

know what you're doing and caring for your body, you know, and let's give it some room and some grace, because it can't happen. So that's that allowing for that dance. Care can help the body adapt to pregnancy and in line with that, you know, can help the nervous system function better. I feel like that's such a, I don't know, nervous system regulation and healing.

and optimal function and those type of things. To me and my bubble seem like little buzzwords because I see it a lot because I work with it a lot because I'm yes I'm working with the pelvis and the sacrum and the bony aspects of the spine but as we're adjusting we're really impacting like the nervous system function. So when you're looking at these say like a nerve chart or that spinal roadmap as far as

The nervous system controls every function of the body. So it goes to every cell tissue and organ. So it would also make sense that when we adjust the spine, we're impacting the nervous system function. So that's where the other component comes in with what does optimal nervous system function look like? It doesn't mean that we're just constantly

and at peace and Zen the whole time. It's more of a, can get to a heightened state and then I can come back down. I can respond to this over here and I can come back down to like that neutral zone, that adaptability a bit better. And I look at it like being able to release fear, being able to surrender to birth more, being more graceful with yourself. Like these are all the other components that I'm looking at with

Care and so sometimes with moms. I'll be like I need you like what brings you calm Do you like to dance? have one moment I'm just I need you to go do some Zumba because it was like we just there's other things to support it Support it as far as like your nervous system. It's the breathing activities. It's grounding its movement I mean, there's there's other things too, but That's kind of the deeper

Aligned Birth Podcast (24:38.818)

part of care. So that's where it's so much more than just breach babies and it's so much more than just pain points. So.

Rachael (24:49.678)

Absolutely. I think that's a common misconception that people feel like or they think my baby you know I'm only gonna go if I have a breech baby and then they're like a one and done or something like that that it's a fix and it's just more of a whole body holistic approach.

Aligned Birth Podcast (24:55.307)

Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (24:59.01)

Mm-hmm.

Aligned Birth Podcast (25:06.176)

I hear, yeah, my first pregnancy was great. I didn't have any aches and pains and it's kind of like a, okay, you know, but how did, how was the nervous system? Mm-hmm.

Rachael (25:16.91)

Sometimes you just don't know. You just don't know. You don't know you need to feel better until you're feeling better or that your body's trapping tension.

Aligned Birth Podcast (25:22.643)

Uh-huh. That's a big one. Not realizing that amount of tension there. So yeah, I feel like that's it. I know.

Rachael (25:32.056)

so many benefits and I think this is enlightening for teaching about Webster in our world of serving the pregnant community and new moms and babies. We recommend it to everyone. We're always like, there's your chiropractor.

Aligned Birth Podcast (25:50.401)

Mm-hmm.

Rachael (25:50.892)

need some referrals. But I do I see a lot of you know and I hear a lot of misconception out there about what what they think it is and it never is what you think it is. Like you go in for one thing and you learn I have all this other stuff going on or have all these other benefits I got from from going regularly.

Aligned Birth Podcast (26:05.334)

Mm-hmm.

Rachael (26:10.402)

you don't know until you try. So I it's great. appreciate you sharing all your knowledge and wisdom and hopefully it's helped someone understand it better and kind of how to start the process and what to look for and just understand it for pregnant people and practitioners alike. Everyone has something to learn here. It's not just like you said, the one doctor or midwife who was shocked.

Aligned Birth Podcast (26:14.924)

Yay, I love it, I know.

Aligned Birth Podcast (26:36.226)

Yeah, this is for everybody. Come into my bubble. Join me in my bubble where we have optimally functioning nervous systems. And I know we've done several episodes before. I mean, maybe I can try to go through and look at those with, because there's some bit, there's like the pain points. So we've done some of those episodes. So we can kind of link those in the show notes too. And I'll definitely link to the ICPA website.

Rachael (26:40.43)

Yes, give it a try, give it a try. Yeah.

Aligned Birth Podcast (27:02.561)

And then you can always reach out to us on Instagram if too, if you're like, Hey, I need a chiropractor in a certain area. Yeah, I can always look it up. So I will find you one. Yes. Again, thanks for tuning in. Hopefully this was informative and stay tuned for more new episodes.

Rachael (27:10.382)

Shannon, I'll hook you up.