How soon should I have my newborn baby checked after birth?

As soon as possible! Many of our families stop in to our practice on their way home from hospital to have their newborn’s spine and nervous system assessed. Even ‘normal’ births can cause trauma to the spine, especially to the neck and skull of a newborn. If forceps, vacuum extraction, manual pulling/twisting or caesarean section is used during birth, the chance of trauma increases.

Did you know that an estimated 27-41kg of force can be used on an infant’s neck during ‘normal’ delivery??!!

Compare that to the average total baby weight of 3-4kg!

Disruption to normal function of the neck, skull, surrounding muscles and nervous system can contribute to poor attachment, difficulty or pain with breastfeeding, reflux, colic, unsettled babies, and plagiocephaly (flattening of the skull).

Adjustment techniques used for infants are extremely gentle, using to no pressure than that used to test the ripeness of a tomato. Our chiropractor’s may also use a handheld instrument called an ‘Activator’ for adjusting the spine of your baby.

For more information on chiropractic care for kids, please click here.

References:

¹ Chiropractic and Pregnancy: Greater Comfort and Safer Births; Dr Jeanne Ohm, www.makinmiracles.com

² New Active Birth; Janet Balaskas

³ Fallon J. The Effect of Chiropractic Treatment on Pregnancy and Labour: A Comprehensive Study. Proceedings of the World Federation of Chiropractic, 1991:24-31.

⁴ Clapp F, Kim H, Burciu B, et all. Beginning regular exercise in early pregnancy: effect on fetoplacental growth. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2000;183:1484-8.

⁵ Hatch M, Levin B, Shu XO, et al. Maternal leisure-time exercise and timely delivery. American Journal of Public Health 1998;88:1528-33.

⁶ New Zealand Government Commission of Inquiry into Chiropractic. New Zealand Government Printer. 1979;1-377;25.