Do you think chiropractic and pregnancy don't go together? Think again. Dr. Rion Zimmerman visited us in class last week. He taught us a mini-anatomy lesson about the many ligaments and tendons that involved in pregnancy, the tightness or misalignment of which can cause discomfort and pain, and possibly lead to malpositioned (breech, posterior, etc.) baby.
Dr. Rion sees many pregnant patients for wellness throughout pregnancy. As a dad himself, he also developed some specific stretches and exercises while his wife was pregnant that he could help her with for both the purpose of relieving that tension as well it being another way to be involved. Both moms and coaches in my class enjoyed feeling a good stretch and learning about some exercises.
One exercise in particular that he shared with doing gentle squats using an exercise ball. You put the ball between your back and the wall. When you bend your knees slightly and then return to standing, the ball rolls with you down the wall slightly, giving comfortable support in proper alignment. As Dr. Rion said, you don't have to go down very far to begin to strengthen your legs and gluteal muscles. Strengthening your glutes is not only good for labor and birth, but can also help with urinary incontinence (in combination with kegels) and is another good life-long toning exercise.
Dr. Rion Zimmerman is the owner operator of Flintridge Family Chiropractic and is certified in the Webster technique. If you want to find out more information about the Webster technique, which is used to help allow the baby to turn to the vertex (head down) position, please give Dr. Rion a call or send him an email through his website. There is also a video of some mothers sharing their testimonials on the website.
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