If you're currently pregnant you might be feeling overwhelmed with the amount of change going on in your body.  Each new symptom can bring about fear and uncertainty.  Medications or treatments you might have used before pregnancy are often stamped with 'not safe for pregnancy', leaving you at a loss of what to do to help your body.  However osteopathy is a safe and effective treatment to support you throughout all stages of pregnancy. Some practitioners may choose not to treat women in the first trimester.  Rather than this being because of any proven risk, it's more to do with the statistically higher risk of miscarriage in this period.  However it can be an useful time to manage symptoms such as tiredness, nausea and emotional ups and downs with gentle treatment.

From the second trimester onwards osteopathy can help to manage pelvic symptoms, low back aches and other postural issues.  The emphasis is always about helping the body to adapt to changes.  This is where old injuries can resurface.  Working alongside your exercise specialist or yoga teacher, you can often experience a well-rounded approach to care at this time.

In the third trimester some of the symptoms may be to do with space, such as rib tightness where your organs are competing with the growing foetus.  Even when you feel at capacity, there are ways at improving motion and therefore easing symptoms in the rib-cage and pelvis.  It's also an important time to prepare the body for birth- and to help the baby to position well.

In an ideal case I recommend pregnant women to have treatment every 3-4 weeks, to help manage the changing body, and to determine how to change lifestyle appropriately at each stage.  It's also a useful thing to have consistency with an empathetic practitioner, especially if there is a different midwife each time at antenatal visits.

So all in all osteopathy in pregnancy is not just about back pain, but a useful treatment to support a healthy pregnancy.   In future blogs I will be sharing information about many issues to do with women's health, pregnancy and baby development.  Keep in touch.