How Does Birth Trauma Impact Child Development?

Are you aware of the many reasons ALL babies benefit from seeing a pediatric chiropractor? Whether you’re an expecting mom, young parent, or grandparent, the following information is important to understand regarding the impact labor and delivery have on a baby’s nervous system and development, the key to helping a baby stay healthy and adapt well to their new environment, and scanning technology that can assess how well your baby’s nervous system is functioning.

What is Birth Trauma?

Labor and delivery are not only stressful and hard on the mother, but for baby too! Just think of all the pushing, tugging, and squeezing that happens to a baby’s head, neck, and shoulders as they make their entrance into this world!

Birth trauma is considered any form stress (most often physical) endured by a baby during labor and delivery that can have short or long-term consequences depending on several factors.

Birth trauma can be as little as squeezing through the tight space known as the birth canal or as significant as having 50+ pounds of pressure on the head and neck while being pulled out of the uterus (as in the case of c-sections). It can also be caused by excessive force during delivery when using forceps or vacuum extraction, overuse of delivery medications to increase the strength of contractions beyond their normal caliber, or a long and challenging labor that may or may not result in emergency procedures.

Even if your birth experience was “natural”, went according to plan, or was relatively smooth despite the pain, you can understand how every baby experiences some degree of physical, emotional, or chemical stress when being born.

What many parents may not understand, however, is that the stress from birth directly impacts the function of a baby’s central nervous system. Specifically, it creates SUBLUXATION (nerve interference) between the brain and spinal cord which can hinder a baby’s ability to perform basic functions like latch, swallow, sleep, and properly digest their food. And if a baby struggles to eat, sleep, or poop with ease, it’s easy to imagine why they might be extra fussy during the day or night.

Subluxation is also a major cause of delayed gross motor development, increased sickness, and ear infections, which is why it’s important for every baby to have their nervous system assessed for subluxation and gently adjusted by a trained pediatric chiropractor.

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5 Reasons to Take Your Baby to the Chiropractor

Whether your baby has difficulty eating, sleeping, or pooping, seems to be uncomfortable or fussy, or you simply want to set your child up for optimal health and development, this article takes a deeper look into 5 main reasons to have your baby assessed and adjusted by a pediatric chiropractor.

Read Article

Neurological Scans for Babies

Curious about what’s involved in scanning a baby’s nervous system for subluxation and stress? Learn more in this article or watch this video.

Read about Scanning Technology

Story of Healing: Brynn

Megan brought Brynn to our office at 7 days old to help with breastfeeding because Brynn was having trouble latching on one side, which made nursing frustrating for both of them.

After an initial assessment which included 2 different neurological scans, it was revealed that Brynn had stress and tension built up in her nervous system 🧠 which prevented the nerves and muscles in her neck and from easily turning to one side. (This is quite common in babies due to the physical pressure put on their neck and spine during the birthing process.)

After Brynn’s first adjustment, Megan noticed an improvement in Brynn’s neck mobility and after the second adjustment, she no longer had trouble with latching! 🎉 With each adjustment Brynn’s range of motion increased ⬆️ and she’s THRIVING because she can now easily turn her head and latch because she no longer has excess tension in her nervous system.🙌

Brynn is such a happy baby and her mom says she continues to be a rockstar with breastfeeding!

If you’ve yet to have your baby’s nervous system checked for subluxation and adjusted through GENTLE pediatric techniques (see video), call us today at 612-516-3090 or book an appointment online.