What do you do when your child experiences a traumatic birth? 

First, we must understand what birth trauma is. The medical profession describes a "traumatic birth" as any injury sustained during the birth process either physical or emotional. This leaves a wide range of diagnoses and health challenges to be possibly pinned back to birth trauma. 

How do I know if my child experienced any form of birth trauma?

Newborns can experience birth trauma with even seemingly perfect and natural births. They may not even be experiencing symptoms right away indicating any abnormal stress on the body from birth. The best way to know if they have sustained any trauma, is to get checked right after birth by a chiropractor. Chiropractors check newborns for any spinal misalignments that are causing abnormal stress on the nervous system and their body. Spinal misalignments when left alone will put unnecessary stress on their body and can result in various symptoms later on in life, such as: colic, torticollis, issues crawling, suppressed immune system, chronic ear infections, asthma and more. Chiropractors are trained in the art and science of the specific chiropractic adjustment for newborns, helping their systems thrive! 

"Birth trauma remains an underpublicized and, therefore, an undertreated problem. There is a need for further documentation and especially more studies directed toward prevention. In the meantime, manual treatment of birth trauma injuries to the neuromusculoskeletal system could be beneficial to many patients not now receiving such treatment, and it is well within the means of current practice in chiropractic and manual medicine." -Gottlieb

What to do to help your child if they may have experienced birth trauma?

If your child has sustained a serious or minor birth trauma, they can benefit from chiropractic care. If you're unsure if your child needs chiropractic care, bring them in for a complimentary 15 minute consultation. We're here to make sure they grow up to be their absolute healthiest! 

References: 

Neglected spinal cord, brain stem and musculoskeletal injuries stemming from birth trauma   Gottlieb MS. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1993 (Oct);16 (8):537-543