Osteopathy can help your baby recover from birth trauma

We all know that labour is painful for the mother. That is unless you are one of those superhuman women who deliver in three pushes with your only pain relief being candles and John Denver music (to quote my antenatal class midwife).

I have been an osteopath for seven years. I have spent numerous hours sitting at my treatment table while a traumatised baby tells me and everyone in my waiting room (in no uncertain terms) that birth is not a pleasant experience for them either and "please put me back in now."

I have also been a mum for two years, which means that I have also felt alone, under-confident and inadequate in my ability to make decisions regarding my baby’s health (and I am in the business).

Basically anything that makes your baby cry:

The baby often cries and appears unsettled. Often the proud parents tell me that their baby is really strong because at two days old he or she could support their own head. This usually means they have very tense neck muscles or have breech presentation. Some babies have made a peculiar grunting sound from birth, which to me often indicates abdominal discomfort. Some babies wriggle a lot and either arch their back or want to stay excessively curled up.

Osteopaths need to be registered and must have attended a five-year university degree. They have a thorough understanding of medical assessment and diagnosis and any condition that is unable to be treated by manual therapy will be referred to a GP or maternal health nurse immediately.

An Osteopathic treatment for your baby can take place as soon after the birth as the baby can physically get to the clinic or (if you have inside contacts) as soon as the osteopath can get to your baby.

It will involve a case history, which will explore:

An Osteopath’s ability to diagnose your baby’s condition comes from an extensive knowledge of anatomy, physiology, biomechanics and pathology. Our tools for diagnosis and treatment are a thorough case history and palpation of your baby’s musculoskeletal, central nervous, digestive, circulatory and lymphatic systems with our hands.

Birth trauma can occur in many ways including:

I once treated a baby girl who was delivered with only one or two pushes while the mother squatted and much to the midwives’ dismay was out and on the floor on her head before anyone could catch her. Needless to say she told her parents about it for the first ten long weeks of her life. After three treatments to decompress her head and spine she was happy and smiling, as were the parents.

The Osteopathic treatment will involve the baby lying on a treatment table or being held by a parent while the practitioner uses very light touch to ‘unwind’ any tension.

Many osteopaths will use Craniosacral Osteopathy to treat children. More structural Osteopaths will use functional or fascial techniques. The aim of treatment is to increase range of motion, increase circulation and improve lymphatic drainage to restricted joints, cranial sutures and other relevant tissues.

The baby doesn’t feel any more discomfort than he/she already has, however, even the gentle touch that we use can remind them of the compressive forces felt during labour, so they often cry during a treatment. The pressure used is as light as the pressure you would apply when you cuddle your baby.

As I previously stated, I have been an osteopath for seven years and have constantly met parents who wonder after three treatments and a happier baby, why they didn’t know about Osteopathy sooner, so I have decided to spread the word.