Lower back pain is not just common during pregnancy, it’s practically ubiquitous. And no wonder. You’re carrying the weight of the world on your lower spine. (Because let’s face it, that baby is your world.) As your pregnancy progresses, your center of gravity moves forward and toward the earth. You’ll have more difficulty sitting and standing, and you may even develop a waddle in the latter months.

Those visible signs of the change your body is undergoing may cause your partner to poke fun at you, but the lower back pain you feel is no laughing matter. The larger your baby grows, the more constant your pain could become.

There is no reason you should suffer. Let me repeat that:

There is no reason you should suffer lower back pain during pregnancy. Studies show that a chiropractor can ease prenatal pain and can even make labor easier.

Is chiropractic care during pregnancy safe for my baby?

Absolutely! But you don’t have to take my word for it. The American Pregnancy Association, a nonprofit national health organization with a mission to promote reproductive wellness through education and research, has stated unequivocally that chiropractic care is safe for pregnant women and their babies.

Further, WebMD states that chiropractic manipulation holds the best track record for easing lower back pain in pregnant women and is a safe therapy. In fact, it’s far safer than taking painkillers would be, and drugs would merely mask the pain, anyway. Your chiropractor will address the root cause of the pain.

More benefits

The reason for the pain you’re feeling is that your spine has been pulled out of alignment. This misalignment is called a subluxation and puts pressure on your spinal nerves. As you might guess, the nerves of your spine impact every single function of your body. Therefore, when the nerves are compressed, your body ceases to function properly. In other words, it doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to. The primary function of your body right now is growing a baby, so you should be very concerned about anything that interferes with that function.

As a pregnant woman, you face a particular problem. The rush of hormones can cause you to be plagued by headaches, including migraines. And because you can’t take medication without risking the wellbeing of your baby, you may have thought you had no choice but to suffer through them. This can be made even more challenging if you have a toddler at home who doesn’t understand that mommy wants to close herself in a dark, quiet room. Chiropractic adjustments have proven to be very effective at relieving headache pain.

Perhaps the most surprising benefit of chiropractic care during pregnancy is that it can help decrease the intensity and duration of labor pains. Labor is easier because the body is in proper alignment, and the baby is more likely to be in proper position. This also reduces the need for artificial means of getting the baby into the world, such as forceps and suction. (Which, not surprisingly, can cause subluxations in the newborn and lead to all sorts of problems.)

Don’t suffer through your pregnancy. Enjoy every minute of it with the help of your local chiropractor.