Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy: Supporting Your Changing Body
Pregnancy is a season of incredible change. It is also one of the reasons I love studying the human body so much. I love exploring how the different systems of the body are not separate, but rather work together as one interconnected system. Pregnancy is a fascinating example of this, as changes in the endocrine system (hormones) influence not only the musculoskeletal system, but the entire body: from cardiovascular and digestive function to the nervous system, sensory experiences, and even the way women experience the world and connect with their bodies.
What I find especially remarkable is the body's ability to continually adapt to these changes to support both the mother and her developing baby. These adaptations are not happening in isolation. Every system is communicating and responding to the others, working together to meet the changing demands of pregnancy. It is a powerful reminder of just how complex, resilient, and adaptable the human body is.
At the same time, these changes can influence how a woman feels and functions throughout pregnancy. Some women experience back or pelvic discomfort, muscle tension, changes in mobility, or difficulty finding comfortable positions for sleeping, exercising, and everyday activities. Others may notice changes in digestion, energy, mood, or emotional state.
This is why I believe pregnancy care should look beyond individual symptoms and consider the whole person. Chiropractic care can be a valuable tool for supporting musculoskeletal comfort, mobility, and function as the body adapts throughout pregnancy. In my practice, I combine individualized chiropractic care with rehabilitation exercises and personalized recommendations to help support the physical and physiological demands of this stage of life.
How Does Pregnancy Change Your Body?
Pregnancy triggers a series of hormonal and physiological adaptations that influence how the body functions. Some of these changes affect connective tissue and joint mobility, while others alter circulation, breathing, kidney function, and metabolism. Understanding these adaptations helps explain some of the physical changes women experience throughout pregnancy.
Hormones, Connective Tissue, and Joint Mobility
During pregnancy, hormones help prepare the body for the physical demands of childbirth. One hormone involved in this process is relaxin, which influences connective tissue remodeling, including changes in the ligaments that support the pelvis. Ligaments connect bones and help provide joint stability. As connective tissue adapts, the pelvic joints, including the sacroiliac joints and pubic symphysis, become more mobile (Aldabe et al., 2012). These changes help prepare the pelvis for the demands of labor and delivery.
Estrogen also influences connective tissue, including collagen, which provides tissues with strength and structural support. Alongside relaxin, this may contribute to changes in ligament stiffness and joint laxity during pregnancy. However, these effects are complex, and researchers have not established that any one hormone is responsible for all pregnancy-related changes in joint mobility (Marnach et al., 2003).
Why does this matter for movement and discomfort? Ligaments help stabilize joints, while muscles provide active support and control movement. When the body's tissues and movement patterns are adapting, the muscles may need to respond to different demands to help maintain coordination and stability. Combined with changes in posture, body weight, and the distribution of forces through the pelvis, these adaptations may contribute to discomfort for some women.
Changes in Posture, Movement, and Physical Demands
As pregnancy progresses, the growing uterus and changes in body mass shift the body's center of gravity. Posture, spinal curvature, gait, and balance may change in response. These adjustments change how forces are distributed through the spine, pelvis, hips, and lower extremities.
The abdominal wall also stretches to accommodate the growing uterus, and some women develop diastasis recti, a separation between the two sides of the rectus abdominis muscles. Fluid retention can contribute to swelling and, in some cases, nerve compression, such as carpal tunnel syndrome. Changes in foot structure and arch height have also been documented (Kazma et al., 2020).
Together, these adaptations can change how everyday activities feel, from walking and standing to exercising, sleeping, and lifting. Low back pain and pelvic girdle pain are common during pregnancy, but their causes are multifactorial. Hormonal, biomechanical, and individual factors may all contribute to a woman's experience of discomfort.
Cardiovascular and Circulatory Changes
During pregnancy, the cardiovascular system adapts to meet the increased demands of both the mother and her developing baby. The amount of blood circulating through the body increases, and the heart pumps more blood with each minute. Cardiac output (the amount of blood the heart pumps per minute) increases by approximately 30 to 50% to help deliver oxygen and nutrients to the uterus, placenta, and other tissues. Blood vessels also relax, reducing resistance to blood flow. As a result, blood pressure often decreases during the first half of pregnancy before gradually returning toward pre-pregnancy levels later on (Gangakhedkar & Kulkarni, 2021; Kazma et al., 2020).
Blood composition changes, too. The body produces more red blood cells to help carry oxygen, but the liquid portion of blood, called plasma, increases even more. This dilutes the concentration of red blood cells and hemoglobin, resulting in what is known as physiologic anemia of pregnancy. This dilution is a normal adaptation to pregnancy, allowing the body's increased blood volume to support the needs of both the mother and her developing baby.
Pregnancy also naturally changes the blood's ability to clot, a process known as hypercoagulability. This is one example of how the body prepares for childbirth, helping limit blood loss during delivery (Gangakhedkar & Kulkarni, 2021; Kazma et al., 2020).
Respiratory, Digestive, and Metabolic Adaptations
Pregnancy also changes how the body uses energy, processes nutrients, and supports oxygen delivery. Progesterone helps stimulate ventilation, increasing the amount of air moved with each breath. At the same time, the growing uterus changes the position of the diaphragm, which may contribute to a sensation of breathlessness.
Kidney filtration increases, allowing the body to manage changes in fluid volume and waste removal. Metabolically, insulin sensitivity typically increases early in pregnancy and then declines as placental hormones and other signals help make more glucose available to the developing baby. Cholesterol and triglyceride levels also rise as part of the body's changing energy and nutritional demands. Prolactin increases substantially, preparing the breasts for milk production (Gangakhedkar & Kulkarni, 2021; Kazma et al., 2020).
These changes are coordinated adaptations, not separate processes. Hormones influence multiple organs, and changes in one system can affect how another responds. This is one reason I find pregnancy physiology so fascinating: the body is continually adjusting across interconnected systems to meet new demands.
How Can Chiropractic Care Support You During Pregnancy?
As we've explored, pregnancy affects the body as a whole. While these changes are a natural part of pregnancy, they can sometimes contribute to low back pain, pelvic girdle pain, muscle tension, and difficulty with everyday movements.
Chiropractic care can be one tool to help support musculoskeletal comfort and mobility throughout pregnancy. My approach combines individualized hands-on care with rehabilitation and recommendations that consider the changing needs of your body.
Depending on your needs, prenatal chiropractic care may incorporate:
Individualized chiropractic adjustments: Techniques and positioning selected according to your comfort, health history, symptoms, and stage of pregnancy.
Muscle and soft tissue work: Addressing areas of muscular tension and movement restriction when appropriate.
Mobility and movement support: Exploring ways to move more comfortably as your posture, balance, and biomechanics adapt.
Rehabilitation exercises: Incorporating individualized exercises to support strength, coordination, mobility, and your ability to manage changing physical demands.
Whole-body assessment: Considering your movement patterns, activity levels, symptoms, and broader health factors that may influence how you feel throughout pregnancy.
My approach extends beyond what happens on the treatment table. I consider how you move throughout your day, the physical demands placed on your body, and how individualized exercises and lifestyle recommendations may help support you as pregnancy progresses. I also recognize that musculoskeletal health is one piece of a much bigger picture, which is why I consider the broader physiological changes occurring during pregnancy when developing recommendations.
My goal is to help you feel supported throughout pregnancy with care that respects your body's ability to adapt while addressing your individual needs. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, and care should evolve alongside you and your changing needs.
Why I Incorporate Rehabilitation Exercises
One of the things I value about a whole-body approach is that care can extend beyond hands-on treatment. Individualized rehabilitation exercises can help you work on strength, coordination, mobility, and tolerance for everyday activities.
Depending on your needs and stage of pregnancy, exercises may focus on the hips, pelvis, trunk, and overall movement patterns. They can be selected to help you adapt to changing loads and maintain movement confidence throughout pregnancy.
What Is the Webster Technique?
The Webster Technique is a specific chiropractic analysis and adjustment approach used during pregnancy that focuses on the sacrum, pelvis, and surrounding muscles and ligaments. The goal is to address musculoskeletal imbalances and restrictions that may affect pelvic function (Ohm & Alcantara, 2012).
The pelvis and surrounding soft tissues provide support for the uterus as it expands throughout pregnancy. By addressing areas of tension and restricted movement, the Webster Technique aims to support balanced pelvic function and reduce musculoskeletal restrictions that may affect a woman's comfort and movement.
You may have heard the Webster Technique discussed in relation to breech positioning. The goal is not to manually turn the baby, but to support pelvic function and reduce surrounding musculoskeletal tension. Supporting the mother's pelvic mechanics may help create a more favorable environment for the baby's movement and positioning.
As a Webster Technique-certified chiropractor, I incorporate this approach when appropriate as part of individualized prenatal care. My focus is on supporting the mother's comfort, mobility, and pelvic function while respecting the natural processes of pregnancy.
Supporting Your Body Through Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a remarkable, natural process, and at Empower Fertility & Women’s Health, I believe in honoring the beauty of how the body changes to support new life. My approach is rooted in a respect for these natural processes and a desire to support the body as it navigates the physical and physiological changes of pregnancy.
With training in prenatal chiropractic care and functional women’s health, I take an personalized, whole-body approach. My goal is not to interfere with the natural process of pregnancy, but to provide thoughtful support along the way.
If you are expecting and have questions about prenatal chiropractic care, I invite you to learn more about chiropractic services at Empower Fertility & Women’s Health in Appleton, Wisconsin.
References
Aldabe, D., Ribeiro, D. C., Milosavljevic, S., & Bussey, M. D. (2012). Pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain and its relationship with relaxin levels during pregnancy: A systematic review. European Spine Journal, 21(9), 1769–1776. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-012-2162-x
Davenport, M. H., Marchand, A.-A., Mottola, M. F., Poitras, V. J., Gray, C. E., Jaramillo Garcia, A., Barrowman, N., Sobierajski, F., James, M., Meah, V. L., Skow, R. J., Riske, L., Nuspl, M., Nagpal, T. S., Courbalay, A., Slater, L. G., Adamo, K. B., Davies, G. A., Barakat, R., & Ruchat, S.-M. (2019). Exercise for the prevention and treatment of low back, pelvic girdle and lumbopelvic pain during pregnancy: A systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53(2), 90–98. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2018-099400
Gangakhedkar, G. R., & Kulkarni, A. P. (2021). Physiological changes in pregnancy. Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine, 25(Suppl. 3), S189–S192. https://doi.org/10.5005/jp-journals-10071-24039
Hall, H., Cramer, H., Sundberg, T., Ward, L., Adams, J., Moore, C., Sibbritt, D., & Lauche, R. (2016). The effectiveness of complementary manual therapies for pregnancy-related back and pelvic pain: A systematic review with meta-analysis. Medicine, 95(38), Article e4723. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000004723
Kazma, J. M., van den Anker, J., Allegaert, K., Dallmann, A., & Ahmadzia, H. K. (2020). Anatomical and physiological alterations of pregnancy. The Journal of Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics, 47(4), 271–285. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10928-020-09677-1
Marnach, M. L., Ramin, K. D., Ramsey, P. S., Song, S.-W., Stensland, J. J., & An, K.-N. (2003). Characterization of the relationship between joint laxity and maternal hormones in pregnancy. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 101(2), 331–335. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0029-7844(02)02447-X
Ohm, J., & Alcantara, J. (2012). The Webster Technique: Definition, application and implications. Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health—Chiropractic, 2012(2), 49–57.
Weis, C. A., Pohlman, K., Draper, C., daSilva-Oolup, S., Stuber, K., & Hawk, C. (2020). Chiropractic care for adults with pregnancy-related low back, pelvic girdle pain, or combination pain: A systematic review. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 43(7), 714–731. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmpt.2020.05.005
This article is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice or prenatal care. Consult your prenatal healthcare provider about questions or concerns related to your pregnancy.