“How are you feeling?”
You’re probably used to hearing that question if you’re pregnant or if you’ve ever been pregnant.
Why? Because, as you also know, pregnancy can be difficult. Even if you have a complication-free pregnancy, you might still be feeling queasy, tired, achy, and uncomfortable as your body changes and your belly grows.
During my second pregnancy, my lower back was sore and I began noticing a sharp pain in the back of my right hip as I walked. With a busy toddler to keep up with, I’d find myself limping around our house, or even worse, working through the pain as I lugged her 25-pound body on my left hip. I was only halfway through my pregnancy, and I needed some help.
I heard that visiting a chiropractor may help relieve some of the common pregnancy-related aches and pains. Naturally, my first question was: Is chiropractic care safe during pregnancy? I got the green light from my OB-GYN and learned that chiropractic care is considered safe through all trimesters, and the sooner you begin treatment, the sooner you can reap the benefits.
Prenatal Chiropractic Care at Bloom. Wellness for Women
Still, if I was going to give this a try, I wanted to find a doctor that would understand all of the unique needs of a pregnant woman. Lucky for me, I met Dr. Cynthia Bugher of Bloom. Wellness for Women in Mount Pleasant.
I was instantly impressed with Dr. Bugher’s specialization in treating women at all stages of motherhood: preconception, prenatal, and postpartum. As both a Doctor of Chiropractic and Registered Nurse, Dr. Bugher combines holistic and conventional approaches in treating her patients. She also holds additional certifications in both prenatal/postnatal chiropractic and sports medicine and is the only certified practitioner in South Carolina of The Bloom Method, a perinatal exercise and rehabilitation program. Plus, Dr. Bugher was also an expecting mom herself!
During our first appointment, Dr. Bugher conducted a physical evaluation, and we discussed my goals for pregnancy and labor. She explained everything thoroughly, reviewing what treatments she would use and how specifically they would help me. This not only put my mind at ease, but I learned A LOT about the benefits of chiropractic care during pregnancy.
Although we’re not planning on more babies in the near future, I can honestly say I’d never go through pregnancy again without a trusted chiropractor like Dr. Bugher.
Here are the reasons why:
Reason 1: You’ll Experience a Healthier Pregnancy
During pregnancy, you experience an incredible amount of physiologic changes as your body supports your growing baby and prepares for birth. It’s no surprise that everything hurts sometimes.
Chiropractic adjustments help promote proper alignment during this time of rapid change. Dr. Bugher also incorporates soft tissue therapies and recommended stretches and exercises to promote healing and maintain alignment. She even showed me techniques to help release round ligament tightness, which can be a major source of pain for some mamas-to-be. Dr. Bugher also uses Kinesiology Taping to help relieve the pain that comes with a growing belly.
These treatments help you to move optimally and in turn, relieve some of those common pregnancy aches and pains. And when you have fewer aches and pains, you are more comfortable, you sleep better, you can stay active, and you often feel better emotionally and mentally—all of which are beneficial for baby.
It wasn’t long before I was pain-free, chasing my toddler around our backyard. I credit my care at Bloom Wellness for helping me to have a healthy and active pregnancy. I was even able to continue teaching fitness classes until 39 weeks pregnant!
Reason 2: You May Have a Shorter Labor
Chiropractors are often associated with backs and spines, but pelvic balance and alignment is a huge focus during pregnancy. During my very first visit, we discovered misalignments and muscle tension present around my pelvis.
This type of pelvic misalignment not only can lead to pain but may also reduce the amount of space for your baby inside the uterus. Toward the end of your pregnancy, this can make it harder for baby to get optimally positioned for birth. My first daughter was breech, so I was very interested in working to correct this alignment for my second birth.
In addition to encouraging proper fetal positioning, pelvic alignment can help shorten your labor and delivery time. During labor, the joints and soft tissue surrounding your pelvis prepare for baby to enter the birth canal. When your pelvis is able to move into optimal positioning for birth, it is much easier for your baby to make room for baby during delivery.
As we approached my due date, Dr. Bugher also introduced me to The Bloom Method and various breathing techniques. These techniques help connect your breath to your deep core and pelvic floor muscles, resulting in more effective pushes during labor and reduced injury to your pelvic floor.
Reason 3: You’ll Have a Better Recovery
While shorter pushing times can speed recovery and postpartum healing, Dr. Bugher also treats postpartum moms, helping us get back to all of the lifting, lugging, pushing, and pulling of mom life in a safe way.
After my daughter was born, Dr. Bugher conducted another thorough evaluation, asking about my birth experience, any lingering symptoms, and even screened me for diastasis recti, a separation of your abdominal muscles. She also asked me about my goals for recovery – I wanted to continue an active lifestyle and eventually return to my pre-pregnancy workout routine. Dr. Bugher helps to guide her patients back to regular activity safely, preventing any injury to your core and pelvic floor.
Many of the same chiropractic adjustments and therapies are continuing to help me postpartum in different ways. For example, my adjustments are also relieving upper back and shoulder soreness from nursing. The breathing techniques I learned as part of The Bloom Method are helping me to properly engage and heal my core and pelvic floor. Dr. Bugher can also help with c-section scar mobilization, to help promote healing after a Cesarean birth as well.
Overall, my work with Dr. Bugher has given me a better awareness of my body during my day-to-day toddler-wrangling and as I ease back into my workout routine. I have a much better sense of what my body needs and how to prevent pain and injury. This has made my postpartum recovery much easier and much faster than the first time around!
Beyond Chiropractic: Functional Medicine at Bloom. Wellness for Women
To further help with your well-being, Dr. Bugher also practices functional medicine, which can help with anything from gastrointestinal issues to difficulty conceiving to chronic fatigue.
Functional medicine involves a complete review of your medical history along with diagnostic testing to identify potential root causes of your symptoms. Dr. Bugher then works closely with you to prescribe nutritional and lifestyle changes to correct those causes, addressing your issue and optimizing your overall health.
Thinking About Visiting Bloom. Wellness for Women?
No matter what stage of motherhood you are in, your body deserves the care that Dr. Bugher at Bloom. Wellness for Women can provide.
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