Osteopathy & Acupuncture for Pregnancy and Infants
Osteopathy and Acupuncture can all help mum and bubs, both inside and outside the womb.
Please note, only some of our Osteopath's treat infants, but all our therapists are skilled at treating expecting mothers.
Osteopathy for Babies and Infants
Osteopathy is a gentle treatment suitable for infants and babies. Osteopaths use a range of gentle techniques including cranial therapy. Cranial techniques are safe and non-manipulative. They are often used when treating young children and infants. We work under the principle that there may be a number of contributing factors to the symptoms and will therefore evaluate not only the area which is producing the symptoms, but also associated areas that may be contributing to the issue.
Infants & Babies
Reflux, colic, plagiocephaly (flat head) & torticollis (tight neck), latching difficulties, irritability, breech babies, sleeping difficulty, postural control, overlapped cranial bones, scoliosis, shoulder dystocia, hip dysplasia,
There is no age limit to treating newborns, if necessary we are able to treat them even when they are only a few days old.
Treatment of Newborns / Infants & Babies often consists of also educating the parents around holding, feeding, and stimulation to aid their child’s recovery and future development.
​
Fiona, Belinda, Brita and Raoul can treat infants and babies under the age of 5.
Osteopathy for Pregnancy
During Pregnancy
​
-
Restore and maintain balance, particularly around the pelvis and chest as the body adjusts to grow the baby.
-
Create space, particularly around positioning of the baby, to help it move into better positions where possible.
-
Improve thoracic mobility and ribcage space and mobility to improve comfort and make breathing easier.
-
Diagnosis and treatment of symptoms of thoracic outlet, carpal tunnel, swelling in legs, sciatica, low back pain, reflux, neck pain and headaches.
-
Being an additional support person and being able to work alongside midwifery, doula, acupuncture, naturopathy and pilates.
​
-
Education on types of exercises to be doing through each stage of pregnancy.
​
-
Monitoring blood pressure.
​
-
Working with breathing and creating awareness around the nervous systems as well as addressing them through treatment.
Post-natal Treatment
​
-
Dealing with the musculoskeletal component of feeding, holding baby for long periods of time, lifting capsule etc and giving advice on how best to approach these repetitive activities.
​
-
Advice on exercise post birth – when to begin and what to do.
​
-
Addressing the pelvic floor through assessment, treatment and exercises.
​
-
Consideration of the hormones that still circulate in the months following and what effect this has on recovery, especially around the pelvis, but also on the other joints that can become ‘lax’.
-
Often treating people for longer than after the standard 6 week midwife discharge and so monitoring mental health, and referral if necessary.
Note: for the appointments sometimes it will be just the mum, sometimes they bring a support person to help look after the baby, sometimes they just bring the baby – it is not always possible to come alone and regardless of the situation we make it work.
Treatment Pre-Pregnancy
-
Hormonal balance (PMS, period pain, fertility)
-
Reducing tensions around abdomen and pelvis
Treatment During Pregnancy
-
Morning sickness
-
Emotional and hormonal balance
-
Low back pain, other muscle pain
-
Digestive issues
-
Fatigue
Moxibustion for safe and easy delivery (around 15w-)
Induction of smooth labour (37w-)
Treatment for breech baby (28w-34w)
Treatment Post Pregnancy
-
Fatigue
-
Supporting breast feeding (prevention of mastitis)
-
Stiffness and pain of the body and tendons
-
Emotional balance, supporting hormonal adjustments
-
Pelvic Alignment
-
Gentle manipulation to the muscles around the pelvic area
-
Approaches to adjust and improve the function of the muscles affected by the pregnancy.
-
Reduce pelvic/back/hip pain.
-
Support good posture and prevent unnecessary tiredness
​​
Pregnancy Treatment by Trimester
​
-
1st Trimester Acupuncture treatment can offer support for pregnancy symptoms from the 1st Trimester.
-
Morning sickness (nausea), digestive symptoms, hypersensitive smells, autonomic nervous system disorder, mood-swings.
-
There is no problem with acupuncture and moxibustion treatment from the 1st trimester. But generally we recommend starting Acupuncture treatments from the 2nd trimester.
-
​
-
2nd Trimester Pregnant women start to feel various physical symptoms from 2nd Trimester to end of 3rd trimester. Our Acupuncturists can help with these symptoms:
-
Headache, migraine. neck and shoulder pain, shoulder blade pain, middle back pain, hip joints and knee pain, tenosynovitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. Arthritis. Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and Sciatica (peripheral neuropathy), various digestive symptoms, gestational diabetes, anxiety and other mental health support.
-
​
-
3rd Trimester Breech baby treatment (ideally treatment from 30w to 34w). We recommend conditioning of the whole body for childbirth from 37 weeks to 40 weeks. Especially to help you relax and release around the pelvic muscles and joints.
​
-
Birth We can help prepare for childbirth (relax and release around the pelvic muscles and joints). If you request to “induce labor,” we can support this with acupuncture treatment. We can also help with active labor contractions and help relieve labour pain.
-
4th Trimester Support healthy milk production/help increase lactation.​Postnatal depression / anxiety (4th Trimester)​. Support healing processes physical stress and damage from birth, and can help C-section scar condition or prevention of infection/Suppurations.
Pre and Post Pregnancy Acupuncture
