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Rugkliniek Moonens

Osteopathy

for

pregnant women

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Tine Moonens is a passionate osteopath and back specialist. In the Medikliniek, the medical clinic in Halle, she and her team offer a wide range of therapy to remedy mental and physical complaints.
Its primary objective is to provide non-invasive, conservative and drug-free treatment and to help as many patients as possible avoid surgery.
Tine has already treated thousands of people with prolonged or sudden physical pain and teaches them how to avoid the complaints in the future.
She writes this blog to help you, because "the value of sound health is only appreciated until it is lost," says Tine.

What complaints does an osteopath treat before, during and after pregnancy?

 

Pregnant? Congratulations!

 

Unfortunately, a pregnancy rarely goes the way you hope it will. For example, you can get a lot of physical complaints. An osteopath often offers a solution.

 

Even if getting pregnant is difficult, if you continue to experience complaints after your delivery and even in anticipation of a smooth delivery, osteopathy can help.

 

Ordered from pre- to post-natal, the complaints that an osteopath can relieve follow.

 

Here we go!

 

 

1. Prenatal

 

A. infertility

 

The biggest prenatal problem is infertility.

 

Because even before you are pregnant, there is the pregnancy wish.

But what if that wish is not fulfilled?

 

There are many possible causes for this, but it is certain that with all these causes the fruit cannot grow properly.

 

Hormones, blood circulation and movement are important for optimal growth.

In osteopathy, we can improve precisely those factors. This makes osteopathy the best additional therapy when you want to get pregnant.

 

In our practice we also treat gynecologically and improve uterine and menstrual complaints, but infertility is a completely different specialization for which I would like to refer you to the best infertility osteopath in Belgium, Colette Peeters in Evergem (https://osteopaatcolette.be/specialisaties/infertiliteit/).

Be sure to contact her if you find yourself in the described situation.

 


B. As physical preparation before pregnancy

 

The second issue that we address prenatally in osteopathy is the physical preparation for pregnancy.

 

So we will first of all try to guide the woman in prenatal care as best as possible, so that she has as few complaints as possible during pregnancy.

 

Because when a uterus grows larger, which does have some traction or adhesions, or whose ligaments do not move properly, the woman will experience complaints in the pelvis, lower back, tailbone, sacrum, and so on.

 


2. Next step : pregnancy

 

As an osteopath, we can make a very big difference in pregnant women. When you are pregnant, your body undergoes many changes.

 

Similarly, your spine and pelvis have to adapt to the uterus that is going to grow enormously.

 

If you find it difficult to adapt to that, you will compensate for it and then you will get complaints.

 

 

How does an osteopath examine a pregnant woman?

 

The osteopath examines the mobility of the bones and joints. Everything in the body needs movement (suppleness) to function optimally.

 

If a joint is not flexible, it is because it is stuck or blocked, and this causes complaints.

 

An osteopath is trained to feel just that loss of movement and to determine whether this could be the cause of your complaints. He takes the time to listen carefully to you and to examine your body.

 

So initially we will look at what complaints this pregnant woman has in order to approach and improve mobility in the various structures.

 

 

The complaints that we can relieve or treat in pregnant women are physical complaints such as:

 

  • Back and pelvic pains
  • Pregnancy-related pelvic pain
  • Headache
  • Stomach ache
  • Problems with the diaphragm
  • Problems with the pelvic floor
  • Recurrent bladder infection
  • Coccydynia (coccyx pain)
  • Incontinence
  • Tingling in arms and legs
  • Tire pains
  • Restless legs, cramps
  • Incontinence
  • Gastroesophageal reflux
  • Intestinal problems: hormonal consequences, motility, nutrition, flora

 

A question we get a lot from expectant mothers is:

 

 

Is osteopathy safe when you are pregnant?

 

Yes!

 

I can assure you that osteopathy is a safe treatment method, even if you are pregnant. An osteopath works together with other medical care providers and therapists and is trained to determine whether you should go to the general practitioner or specialist with your complaint, and will refer you in that case.

 

The treatment techniques used by an osteopath are safe for you and your unborn baby. However, it is wise to go to an osteopath who has experience in the treatment of pregnant women, in order to receive the best possible and specialized treatment.

 


What exactly does that treatment entail?

 

The treatment focuses on alleviating or removing the physical complaints. No medicines, injections or equipment are used in the treatment, an osteopath only works with his hands.

 

In addition, an osteopath teaches you a lot about the background of your complaints and what you can do about it yourself to improve your health.

 

 

3. Osteopathy in preparation for childbirth

 

Well, another pillar that is very important is that we are going to try to make the uterus, which serves as a housing for the growing baby, as mobile as possible.

 

As a result, the uterus forms an environment for the baby in which the baby can have an “optimal fetal positioning”, which is very important to have no malpresentations or no malpositions (such as breech and transverse presentation) towards delivery.

 

For example, by improving the pelvic position, the birth can go more smoothly.

We can therefore use osteopathy to prepare the pregnant woman's body for childbirth by optimizing the vitality, mobility and blood circulation of the pelvis, pelvic floor and fetus.

 

As a result, we can try to cooperate in ensuring that deliveries go much more smoothly, that there are fewer indications for caesarean section or ventouse or forceps.

 


4. Finally: post-natal

 

What is also very important is that we as osteopaths also provide post-natal care.

Being pregnant and giving birth are very stressful events for our body, which we experience only a few times in our lives.

 

The body may be equipped for it, but it does not always run smoothly.

 

Post-natal recovery can sometimes take a while. We think we will recover, but in the meantime it has taken a long time. Many women still struggle with pregnancy or childbirth complaints, even months or years afterwards.

 

You don't have to live with this and many of those complaints can be alleviated until resolved.

 

But it is important here that we must recognize when there is a difficult post-natal recovery, which is somewhat underestimated in many disciplines.

 

We too often assume that every complaint a woman has after giving birth is “somehow” part of it. This is not so.

 

So we can actually do a lot. Post-natal we will try to recognize the difficult recovery, which we must recognize, in order to guide it so that the woman does not have to deal with complaints for life.

 

The complaints that a woman can experience after giving birth can be related to:

  • Cesarean section
  • Ventouse delivery (suction cup kiwi)
  • Cut or episiotomy
  • Adhesion/scar tissue
  • Prolapse
  • Pelvic floor, rupture
  • Tailbone
  • CPPS (Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome or Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome)
  • Bladder, uterine and intestinal prolapse
  • Pain during intercourse
  • Urinary leakage

 


5. Lactation / Breastfeeding

 

And then we can also guide her during lactation: towards postures, what is important, how can you build up a lactation properly, so that the babies can, preferably, exclusively or mainly be breastfed for 6 months.

 

Osteopathy can help with:

  • Problems in lactation
  • Hook-up problems
  • Suction problems
  • Mastitis
  • Breastfeeding support: positions and latching techniques
  • Short tongue tie
  • Guidance from breastfeeding to formula feeding

 

As an osteopath, we can make a big difference with our treatment to guide this woman and her baby as well as possible to one of the most important experiences in their lives.

 

If you want more information, or you experience a physical complaint that was not listed here, contact us and we will see what we can do for you together.

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