I remember years ago, before I had the courage to visit a chiropractor, how scared I was to go to a “ruk & pluk” doctor. Chiropractic treatment, has developed over the last decades to a fine precise scientific practice. Chiropractor doctors can now study in South Africa and receive a Doctorate in Chiropractics and are recognized by our own health authorities as professionals. This is much like homeopaths, naturopaths, nutritionists and many more. The perceptions of the population will change over the years to come. It has already progressed a great deal since I first met my Chiropractor 13 years ago.
Back to the baby and the Chiropractor.
About a week ago, we had our 8th baby! His name is Michael Jonathan. He is a hefty little man, weighing in just under 4.4kg, making him our biggest baby thus far. I now have 2 daughters and 6 sons!
Well, as you may imagine, pushing out a baby of that size, takes some doing. Ever since my wife had our first baby, I said that she deserved a statue, for this is a formidable accomplishment, second to nothing, for any woman. With our second youngest son Daniel, his shoulder got stuck a little during birth. He cried for about two weeks before we realized that his shoulder is hurting. We took him for two sessions at the Chiropractor and he was 100% since then.
Linnie had great difficulty in getting Michael to latch to the breast. Linnie have breastfed all our children for considerable time, totaling to just over 10 years of continual lactating experience. At one stage she was afraid that she would not be able to breast feed Michael at all, a problem that many young mothers encounter. From my perspective I knew that with her extended experience, the problem is not with her not knowing how to breastfeed, rather a secondary issue. It was then that we realized that he could be hurting due to the difficult delivery.
We took him to Dr. Willie Bolus, our family chiropractor for almost 13 years. Heidi-Mari was actually the first of our babies to pay him a visit, when she was 5 weeks old. So we have witnessed the benefits over many years now.
What to expect when you go to a chiropractor with your newborn.
For us, the visit with our newborn was fairly uncomplicated, due to the history we have with our doctor. If it’s your first time, the doctor will usually get a full medical history from you. If it’s your baby, he may ask you about the birth etc.
After this he will gently examine your baby in trying to establish if something is out of alignment, before he starts the treatment.
When your body is stressed by any outside factors, the muscles pull on the skeletal system. When the stress is too much it may happen that the skeletal system goes into mis-alignment. When the muscles then relaxes again, it could happen that the skeletal system does not respond appropriately, and stays out of normal alignment. Going for physiotherapy will only aid the muscles, not the skeletal system.
When the chiropractor has determined that some part of the skeletal system is indeed out of alignment, he will proceed by gently applying pressure to the misaligned bones. This will gently re-align the skeletal system. This may give immediate relief, or the relief may only come after two or three sessions.
Your baby may sleep more than you are used to just after the treatment and may also have a few extra dirty nappies. This is all normal and part of the body’s healing cycle.
So, next time your baby won’t sleep or cries for no apparent reason, it may be wise to pay your Chiropractor a visit. You may also benefit from reading “tips for breastfeeding mothers”
