Modern birthing procedures, even those with seemingly minimal intervention, are known to cause trauma and stress to the infant’s cranium and spine. In a leading pediatric textbook on manual therapy for children, one author tells us, “When considering injuries and dysfunctions of the spine and its associated structures, the significance of birth trauma is often underestimated, and the resultingsymptoms frequently misinterpreted.”
In the case of breastfeeding difficulty, as with many childhood disorders, the cause of the problem often traces back to undetected biomechanical injuries to the spine and cranium at birth. The failure to recognize these biomechanical injuries and their relationship to difficulty in breastfeeding leads to incorrect conclusions and therefore, inadequate recommendations and treatments. Without real solutions, mothers become discouraged, successful breastfeeding is not achieved, and women stop trying out of frustration.
Breastfeeding is by far the best choice for infant feeding for numerous reasons. Significant research shows that, from a nutritional, immunological, digestive, neurological, developmental, mental, psychological, and emotional standpoint, there is no replacement. Today, more and more women are choosing the healthy, natural benefits of breastfeeding. Exclusive breastfeeding is the optimal feeding mode for an infant’s first 6 months of life. Many women initially plan to breastfeed for that length of time, yet fall short because of difficulties that seem to have no solution. Many of the care-providers they consult are unaware of the biomechanical disorders in the infant’s spines and craniums that cause the difficulty in breastfeeding. This lack of knowledge leads to ineffective recommendations with unsatisfactory results. In these instances, it is imperative that parents seek family chiropractors who offer mothers and infants the care appropriate to their needs.
In 24 years of practice, it has been my experience that when infants presented in our office with any of the indicated difficulties (see below), once evaluated and adjusted accordingly, they responded favorably with chiropractic care. Normal function in the infant was restored and breastfeeding continued without further complications and hindrances. Among other numerous benefits of chiropractic care for infants, the ability to successfully breastfeed has lifelong consequences for the baby’s future health potential. Including chiropractic care for your newborn may very well be one of the most important choices you make in support of the family wellness lifestyle.
Some of the most common indicators of difficulty with breastfeeding are:
- Babies who cannot latch firmly
- Babies who can latch and not sustain sucking
- Babies who are unable to smoothly coordinate suckling, swallowing, and breathing
- Babies who can feed in only one position
- Babies who seem dissatisfied when nursing or who remain fussy and distressed throughout the day
- Babies who chew and damage the mother’s nipples
- Babies who may not feed any better from other devices
- Babies who have the need to suck 24/7
Birth, Baby & Breastfeeding
In a typical C-section, a small incision is made in the mom’s abdomen and the doctor, hands around baby’s neck, pulls upward and maneuvers the baby out. This is how one out of every three babies in the United States enters the world. This is how Owen, a young boy who was brought to my practice, was born. Contrary to the perception that a mom’s belly unzips and the baby floats out on a cloud, cesareans pose real physical trauma to a baby’s spine. Those traction forces are experienced by the baby in most births, vaginal or cesarean, and cause a subtle shift in the top bone of the neck. That shift in the spinal bone can interfere with the nervous system and disrupt normal childhood development. This neurobiomechanical dysfunction, what chiropractors refer to as vertebral subluxation, can contribute to many of the concerns new parents have for their children—comfort, sleep, digestion, immune system, coordination, and, in Owen’s case, breastfeeding.
After birth, Owen and his mom, Ivy, couldn’t establish a normal latch. It was painful, inconsistent, and ineffective. Despite Owen seeing the neonatologist, pediatrician, several lactation consultants, and a pediatric dentist who released four tongue and lip ties, no one could explain why he struggled to breastfeed. One of the lactation consultants instructed Ivy to give up, that Owen’s anatomy would make a normal latch impossible. “It broke my heart,” she said, resigning herself to pumping and bottle -feeding, thinking nothing would make a difference.
When all seemed lost, Ivy tried chiropractic. An evaluation revealed a vertebral subluxation at the top of Owen’s neck, restricting his ability to turn his head and engage the breasts symmetrically, open his mouth sufficiently, and develop an effective sucking and swallowing pattern. Owen melted into the table during the adjustment, which was a gentle pressure to correct the subluxation, reduce the adverse nervous system tension, and let him finally move in a way that allowed him to latch.
A few hours after his first adjustment, Ivy sent the following text: “I just wanted to say thank you. We just got home and Owen nursed for 30 minutes…I can hardly believe it. I’ve cried for a week unable to provide for my babe; I’m so thankful! Whatever we are doing to him, it’s working.”
Two weeks later Owen is nursing undisturbed: no more pain, no more pumping, no more bottles. Ivy replaced the tears of frustration with those of joy, and feelings of failure with the incredible connection and bond of breastfeeding. “Never give up,” she encouraged. “Breastfeeding can be hard, but you should definitely try chiropractic after birth, before they have to go through what I went through.”
The importance of breastfeeding for physical and emotional health is well documented and generally accepted by the medical community. While many hospitals and doctors’ offices have taken steps toward increasing breastfeeding rates, for some moms they may be missing one key aspect—chiropractic.