Two days ago I was preparing to see my patients at my home office location. I received a text message from one of my afternoon appointments that read, "I won't make my appointment later today. I had my baby at 12:30 am!" She had been one of my favorite mom's to be to care for. She was excited about chiropractic; very compliant with my care plan for. She achieved amazing results in a short period of time.
Her pelvis was very distorted when she first came to me in her first trimester; sacral apex rotation, superior pubic bone, sacrotuberous ligament spasms, etc. After a detailed case history, I soon learned she suffered terribly with TMJ dysfunction. Experience has taught me that TMJ Dysfunction=Pelvic Dysfunction, and correcting one without the other is futile. So, I adjusted what I found and soon balance and function was the norm for her. She never missed an appointment, save the time I went on vacation over the summer. Upon my return she begged me to never go away again! She loves chiropractic (so do I!).
Fast forward to yesterday when going back to see patients at my birth center location. Her goal was to deliver at the birth center. I know things don't always go as planned when it comes to childbirth, so I was excited to hear about her delivery. The midwife who owns and runs the birth center has been one of my biggest fans for nearly 2 decades. She understands the importance of a properly functioning spine, pelvis and nervous system as it pertains to childbirth and advocates such to her patients on a regular basis. She is my biggest source of referrals and is quite persuasive in getting her moms to be to seek out prenatal chiropractic care. She also knows the importance of chiropractic care for the midwife and gets adjusted every week.
Yesterday, after I adjusted her, I inquired about my patient who delivered the day before. She said, "She is so lucky. She nearly had a c-section because the baby was slightly *OP and wouldn't descend and she didn't dilate past 5 cm" I was dumbfounded, I didn't understand, her pelvis was near perfect. Her TMJ was fully functional. "What happened?" I asked.
"Well first, I assumed it was her pelvis. I figured it wasn't aligned and prevented her baby from making it's way out. I mentioned this to the couple and the husband said, 'How can that be? She's been seeing Dr. Karen nearly every week for her ENTIRE pregnancy.'
The midwife continued, "So, it's not your pelvis then. Let's see what's going on with an ultrasound. That's when we saw that the baby had his hands wedged under his chin and was stuck in the pelvis."
"What did you do?", I asked.
"Well, since I knew her pelvis was fine, I knew that baby could get out as long as we could free his hands from under his chin. So that's what we did. If she wasn't under your care, it would've been a section, no doubt. As soon as we jiggled him around and freed his hands, she delivered."
Holy Canoli! I love midwives who get it. Don't you?
*If you're a doctor of chiropractic and would like to learn how to teach your area birth professionals about the importance of prenatal chiropractic care, please contact me at drkarengardner@gmail.com.
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Dr. Karen, just wanted to say wow...I've learned so much and I'm only into the 2nd module. This is the stuff we need to know in everyday practice! I could listen to you all day long! ~ Dr. Katie Gelesko Stull
Last month I started posting questions that I receive on a regular basis from chiropractors worldwide concerning pregnancy and chiropractic. This month I will do the same as so many of you have emailed me privately or through Facebook or LinkedIn to tell me how much you have enjoyed it so far. Please don't be shy if you'd like to ask a question or comment on one that I'll be posting here. Be sure to also like my FaceBook Page. It's a group where docs from all over are asking and answering questions as it pertains to natural, prenatal chiropractic care. I hope to see you there. 
