About the Webster Technique
Here at Main Street Chiropractic, Dr. Fleisher specializes in the Webster Technique. It offers a gentle chiropractic adjustment for pregnant women to balance the pelvic bones, muscles, and ligaments, aiming to reduce intrauterine constraints and create optimal space for the baby to achieve a favorable birthing position. The technique focuses on correcting sacral and pelvic misalignment to improve neuro-biomechanical function, potentially decreasing discomfort for the mother and promoting a smoother labor and delivery.
What the Webster Technique Does:
Pelvic Balancing:
The primary goal is to restore balance to the pelvis by addressing sacroiliac joint dysfunction and related soft tissue tension.
Improved Fetal Positioning:
By balancing the pelvis, the technique helps reduce tension and creates space, which can facilitate the baby's movement into a more ideal position for birth.
Reduced Discomfort:
The adjustments can alleviate common pregnancy-related issues such as low back pain, hip pain, and sciatic nerve pressure by relieving tension on surrounding ligaments and muscles.
The interesting thing is that women under chiropractic care before pregnancy or starting their adjustments during pregnancy generally do not have the complications of women that do not take advantage of this natural, drug free health care.
Women that get under care for a 2nd or 3rd pregnancy almost always comment that their pregnancy is more comfortable and their labor and delivery is less painful, shorter in duration AND there are fewer complications.
If there is inutero- constraint, it is important that the Webster technique be utilized as close to week 32 as possible.
The adjustment often helps to reduce discomfort and a great amount of movement can be seen immediately afterward.
Pediatrics & Chiropractic
Here is a question for you: WHO DELIVERS THE BABY?
Check out the picture above. Do you notice how her posture is changing?
A woman’s body goes through a lot of changes as she goes through pregnancy. As you can see in the photo, the stomach sticks out, the curve in the low back increases, the mid-back moves backwards and the head protrudes forwards. A hormone allows the ligaments to stretch more than usual so the pelvis widens allowing more room for the growing fetus. Problems in the spine prior to pregnancy become more pronounced, leading to low back pain, neck pain, headaches, upper and mid back pain. In addition, the subluxations also cause problems to the branches of nerves that go to all the organs.
As the baby grows, it is vital that there is room in the uterus. When the lumbars, ileum (hip bones) and sacrum are subluxated, they may restrict freedom of movement for the baby. These subluxated structures also pull on the ligaments that suspend the uterus improperly causing it to become twisted.
Think of a hot air balloon. It has ropes that attach to the basket. If one of the ropes was tighter than the others, it would pull more on one side of the balloon causing it to twist.
The same thing happens to the uterus. There are 4 major ligaments that attach to it keeping it in its proper position. These ligaments attach to the bones of the pelvis. If one or more of them become subluxated, it will “pull” on the ligaments causing the uterus to twist and change shape.
This may cause the mom to be to experience discomfort and even pain during the pregnancy due to altered nerve function and mechanical imbalances. It can also lead to problems for the developing baby.
As the pregnancy continues, there may not be enough room for the baby to turn and move into the head down position for a natural delivery.
This leads to a less desirable situation for the delivery of the baby. In many cases, a C-section is decided upon. Contrary to popular beliefs, this is not an ideal delivery. Although it is commonly performed, it is surgery and there are always inherent risks to the mom and child. There are drugs used, the mom gets cut open and the baby does not get a chance to go through the natural and beneficial processes.
Dr. Fleisher is certified in the Webster Technique. It requires advanced training and physiological understanding to become qualified to perform. This technique in conjunction with the specialized corrective technique we use in the office helps to ensure the mom has the safest delivery possible and the baby benefits from a natural birth.
Answer: THE MOM DELIVERS THE BABY
You will hear Medical Doctors, GPs and OB/Gyns say that “if you have pain or get sick, do not take any medications because it is not good for the baby. Your body has the ability to heal itself.” Soooooo, my question is doesn’t a woman’s body have that same ability when they are not pregnant? What about men? Do they not have that ability at all? Ok, ok, that is a subject for another discussion. Let’s get back to pregnancy. No matter what you do, if you are an elite athlete, a weekend warrior or you are into fitness, you sit at a desk, you take care of the household, or you are alive, it is vital to make sure your are functioning at your optimal level. This becomes even more important when you are pregnant. It is vital for your health and the baby’s that your are mechanically sound and your nervous system is carrying the vital information back and forth from your brain to your body at 100%. When this happens you will have the best pregnancy possible. Old traumas, poor posture and stress to name a few things will cause subluxations. These subluxations act like a dimmer switch on your nerves decreasing the amount of information that flows along them. Wherever those nerves go, those body parts cannot work at 100%. They begin to breakdown and over time will lead to disease and symptoms.
During pregnancy, the body releases a hormone called Oxytocin. This allows the ligaments which hold the bones tightly together, loosen up so that the pelvis may expand to accommodate the growing baby. It also does the same things to all the other ligaments in the body including the ones that help to hold the spine in alignment. This may make it easier to get subluxations making it vitally important for a pregnant mom to be to be under regular chiropractic care.
My mom always tells me, “The most important thing you can have is your health”. As parents, we all want the best for our kids. And that never goes away. We want them to be successful, happy and most of all healthy. Not only when they are tiny, innocent and helpless babies, but throughout their entire life.
Dr. Larry Webster, the “grandfather of chiropractic pediatrics” developed care for children of all ages. From newborn all the way up until our spines are fully developed in our early 20’s. Health begins in the womb and is determined by the lifestyle choices of the mom. Therefore, it is vital to take the proper actions to ensure optimal health for the child from the moment they are born and throughout their lives.
Just like us adults, the brain sends energy down the spinal cord along the nerves to all the organs of the body in our children. This energy is vital to their development and their health throughout their entire lives. In fact, I believe that it is crucial to ensure our kids spines allow that energy to flow like a fire hydrant at 100% as they develop so they have the strongest foundation for health.
Why wait until they are adults with health issues when we can lay the foundation now?
“Why would my child need chiropractic care at birth?” Great question. The reason is that to have a healthy life, we must have a healthy lifestyle. The birth process, while a challenge for most moms, can be the first time the newborn experiences trauma. In fact, according to medical doctors Guttmann and Videmann, even a “normal” birth process (no epidural, Pitocin, forceps, vacuum extraction or C-section) can cause stress to the nervous system in the upper neck in 80% of newborns. This can lead to ear infections, torticollis, colic, reflux, a weakened immune system failure to thrive and SIDS. If not corrected, it may lead to other health problems in their future.
Childhood falls, playing sports, poor posture (look at them when they are playing video games and texting on their phones) and the stresses of everyday life ALL can cause subluxations. In most cases, the symptoms may not show up for decades.
That is why getting your child a chiropractic evaluation is one of the best things you can do for their health now, and in the future.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
At Main Street Chiropractic in Collegeville, we have had the privilege to help thousands of children of all ages with their health. Dr Fleisher has taken hundreds of hours of post graduate continuing education in pediatrics and pregnancy care and is a Fellow of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association. “I had the blessing of learning from Dr. Webster when I was in school and followed him around the Luckie Street Clinic to learn as much as I could from him. 50% of my patients in my previous practice were kids.”
Chiropractic care for kids is gentle and safe, the adjustments are a lot different for adults and they respond much faster than their parents because there hasn’t been much time for their bodies to weaken, degenerate or lead to disease. Knowing this gives the parents the certainty they are doing everything they can for their child’s health for the rest of their lives.
Health is a lifestyle. When it begins at birth it lays the foundation for their future.
Our children are our legacy. We have the greatest responsibility to provide them with the greatest advantage of good health
Get your child checked for subluxations today to see if chiropractic can help them now and, in the future, because once your health is gone, you cannot get it back. Call 484-902-8550 to schedule.
Are you experiencing pregnancy/breech conditions? We can help!
The goal of all birth providers and mothers is a safer, easier birth for both the mother and baby. As more mothers are benefiting from the specific care offered by the Webster Certified doctors, more and more birth care providers are actively seeking these doctors to care for their pregnant women throughout pregnancy.