The Importance of Balance
A new mother must provide her unborn child with a home that serves as an ever-expanding playground, a full-service cafeteria, and a warm comfortable cradle, all in one package. Few people are aware that to achieve this there is an incredible balancing act going on within a mother's body during every moment of her pregnancy. To accomplish this act, a mother must fine-tune all of the systems and structures within her body. Any imbalance within a mother's body can result in a deviation away from her normal state of homeostasis (physical stability) and toward a state of dysfunction, discomfort, and/or disease. Here are a few things you must know about the design of a woman's body if you are to appreciate it's remarkable ability to grow and deliver a child.

The Uterus
First of all, the uterus is not a free-floating home for the baby. It is anchored tightly into the bony pelvis by eight distinct ligaments. Imagine for a moment that the pear-shaped uterus is a hot air balloon; surrounded by a large and majestic mountain range, the balloon would be tethered to the ground to insure that it does not float up and away. Well, evenly spaced ligaments also anchor the uterus to the pelvic floor. If our imaginary balloon handlers were to misjudge where to anchor any particular stake used to secure the ropes in the ground, the balloon would tip-making it difficult, if not impossible, for someone to enter or exit the basket. The same thing could happen to the uterus causing the cervical portion, the cervix, to tip away from the center of the vaginal canal.

The Ligaments
When the ligaments on the front of the uterus contract more than the ones in the back, the uterus will be pulled forward. The forward pitch of the uterus can result in pressure being applied to the delicate nerves and arteries that supply the muscles of the groin and upper thigh. When this happens, a mother will suddenly stop walking and complain of pain in her groin or the muscles in front of her leg. If the uterus maintains this forward shift, the baby can be pressed down against the cervix. Mothers complain of extreme cervical pressure and feelings that the baby may fall out.

This pressure will cause the mother's brain to receive a message that the baby is fully-grown and ready to exit the canal. The result may be premature labor. With bed rest, the uterus drops back, and the contractions stop. When a mother gets up to go to the bathroom, the uterus falls forward and activates premature labor again-despite the use of drugs to stop uterine activity.

If the ligaments in the back contract more than ligaments in the front, the uterus will be pulled backwards. Often identified as a tipped uterus, this will usually correct itself as the baby grows and pulls the uterus upright. If it does not self-correct, the mother may experience back pain during pregnancy and/or delivery; she may complain of lower abdominal pressure and cramping.

The Muscles
The mother's pelvic floor muscles are also performing a balancing act. If the muscles in the front are too tight, the mother may complain of pubic bone pain or cramping just above the pubic area. It may also be difficult for her to urinate. If the piriformis muscles on both sides of her bum are too tight, she will complain of discomfort that feels like a band of pain across her entire lower back. If the piriformis muscles are contracted on one side only, the muscles on the other side are stretched down on the large sciatic nerve. This will cause sciatic pain that shoots down that leg. Consequently, the problem is on the side OPPOSITE the side of pain.

You see it's all about balance. Chiropractors are helpful during pregnancy because we are experts at restoring balance to the bony skeleton and normalizing the tone of the muscles. When balance is restored to these structures, interference to the normal flow of the life force through the nervous system and the vascular system is reduced and a mother feels much better.

There are many common situations that may cause an imbalance to occur within the structures of the body, such as when a pregnant mother carries a sibling on one hip. She must contract one side of her gluteal muscles to arch the supporting hip upwards. Another situation is when a mother twists her body while taking a child in and out of the car. There is no ergonomically effective way to do this unless she has a large van. Another cause of imbalance is a job that requires repetitive twisting of the trunk muscles (i.e., computer monitors should always be placed directly in front of the body). Women also get their body twisted while sleeping, if they don't use pillows to support their back and elevate their leg. Previous physical injuries from accidents and sport activities may also result in an imbalance in the body.

Restoring balance to the structural framework and the muscular components of the body will result in a balanced uterus, which can contribute to a comfortable pregnancy and a happy mother/baby couple.

I could share thousands of stories of women who have come into my chiropractic practice with a variety of complaints such as extreme leg pain, heartburn, back pain, or premature labor. In the majority of these cases, they received a few adjustments and the complaints resolved quickly and permanently. Their stories would be short and to the point. Instead, I think it would be more helpful to share the story of a mother whose pregnancy was complicated by several factors. This is a mother who chose to ease the discomfort associated with carrying two babies by incorporating other modalities into her typical medical prenatal care.