Pregnancy does a number on your body. Center of gravity shifts. Pelvis widens. Hormones flood your system and loosen the ligaments holding your joints together. All while you’re growing a human being.
The physical toll is real. Lower back that gets worse every week. Sciatica shooting down the leg. Hip pressure bad enough to wreck your sleep. Pelvic discomfort that just keeps building. Most women are told this is normal. Just part of pregnancy. Push through it. Doesn’t have to be that way.
Dr. Brockway sees pregnant patients at all three stages. First trimester through the final weeks before delivery. The work is pretty consistent throughout. Keep the spine and pelvis aligned as the body changes. Knock down the pain that builds. Get you into labor in decent mechanical shape.
We’re located at 425 S. Cherry St., Suite 307 in Denver. Call us at 720-889-1659 to schedule your first prenatal visit.
How Does Chiropractic Care Help During Pregnancy?
Lower back pain is the most common reason pregnant patients call. Makes sense. Belly pulling the lumbar spine forward, posture compensating for a shifting center of gravity, ligaments looser than normal from relaxin. That adds up fast. Serious load on the lower back, SI joints, and hips.
When the pelvis is off, the muscles and ligaments around it start compensating. That compensation is where most of the pain actually lives. Not the joint itself. The tissue reacting to it. Adjustments fix the alignment. The compensation eases. Pressure comes off the nerves.
Beyond back pain, patients commonly report improvement in:
- Sciatica and radiating leg pain
- Pelvic girdle pain and round ligament discomfort
- Hip pressure and SI joint dysfunction
- Neck and upper back tension from postural changes
- Difficulty sleeping due to musculoskeletal pressure
There’s also research pointing to shorter labor times in patients who had regular chiropractic care during pregnancy. Up to 25% shorter for first-time mothers in some studies. The reasoning is pelvic alignment. Room for the baby. Less mechanical resistance when it matters most.
Is It Safe to See a Chiropractor While Pregnant?
For most pregnancies, yes. Widely considered safe. No abdominal pressure. Positioning modified at every visit based on where you are in the pregnancy. It’s not the same as a standard adjustment and shouldn’t be.
Not every pregnancy is the same, though. Dr. Brockway reviews your full obstetric history before anything else. And OB-GYN or midwife clearance before starting care is something we strongly recommend. Not a formality. It’s just good medicine.
IMPORTANT: When to Avoid Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy
Do not seek chiropractic care without consulting your OB-GYN first if you have any of the following:
- Placenta previa or placental abruption
- Severe preeclampsia or toxemia
- Active vaginal bleeding
- History of preterm labor or risk of premature contractions
- Ruptured membranes or ectopic pregnancy
If you’re currently under an OB-GYN’s care for a high-risk pregnancy, always get medical clearance before beginning chiropractic treatment.
How Does Dr. Brockway Adjust a Pregnant Patient?
Table setup changes. Positioning changes. Force changes. A prenatal adjustment and a standard adjustment don’t look much alike.
Most patients are positioned on their side. Bolsters for support. Zero pressure on the abdomen. Third trimester especially, side-lying is how we do basically everything.
Force is dialed way back. Relaxin makes everything more mobile. Joints loosen up more easily than normal. That actually makes corrections easier to achieve. Less force needed. Dr. Brockway adjusts for that on every visit. Overcorrecting a joint that’s already hypermobile is the last thing we want.
Lumbar spine, sacrum, pelvis. Those are the areas taking the most load. That’s where the work goes. Keep them aligned and you take the mechanical stress off the tissue that’s been absorbing it.
Soft tissue usually gets attention too. Round ligament tension is brutal for a lot of patients. Gluteal tightness, hip flexor strain. Common through all three trimesters. Releasing that is part of what makes care actually effective vs. just cracking the joints and sending people home.
When Should You Start Prenatal Chiropractic Care?
As early as you find out. Not a pitch. Just practical. First trimester is when relaxin kicks in and posture starts compensating. Catching alignment issues early means they don’t compound into something worse by month seven.
Let us know as soon as you find out. Changes how we position you, what we use, how the whole care plan is built. X-rays aren’t part of prenatal care. We refer out for imaging in other situations, but during pregnancy we skip it unless your OB specifically directs otherwise.
Quick breakdown of what care looks like at each stage:
First Trimester
Get a baseline. Find and address existing dysfunction before pregnancy amplifies it. Early tension, pregnancy headaches, postural changes from the first hormonal wave.
Second Trimester
Belly is out, center of gravity has moved. Lumbar curve increasing. Pelvic alignment is the main focus now. Baby’s weight is actively shifting your mechanics and the spine is working harder to compensate.
Third Trimester
Birth prep. Pelvis, sacrum, surrounding soft tissue. Getting the body into the best mechanical position it can be in heading into labor. Most patients come in more frequently during these last weeks.
How Often Should You Come In During Pregnancy?
Depends on what’s going on and where you are in the pregnancy. No universal answer.
Common starting point:
- First trimester: once a month
- Second trimester: every two to three weeks
- Third trimester: weekly as you approach your due date
Significant sciatica, pelvic instability, bad SI joint pain? Earlier and more often makes sense. Schedule gets built around symptoms, not a standard template. Dr. Brockway gives a clear recommendation after the first evaluation.
Can You See a Chiropractor Right Up Until Your Due Date?
Yes. No hard cutoff. Healthy pregnancy, you can be seen right up until labor starts. Plenty of patients come in weekly through the final month. Pelvis prep. Getting the body ready for what’s coming.
Third trimester is when discomfort peaks for most patients. Baby’s bigger, joints are under more load, body is ramping up for delivery. Regular adjustments keep things moving and help manage the tension that piles up in those last weeks.
Been coming throughout the pregnancy? Keep coming. Just starting in the third trimester? Still worth it. Not too late.
What About After the Baby Arrives?
Labor is hard on the pelvis. Even a straightforward vaginal birth puts real mechanical stress on the sacrum and SI joints. Worth getting evaluated in the weeks after delivery.
Vaginal birth, most patients are ready within a week or two. C-section, four to six weeks minimum. OB clearance required before we touch the lower back.
The American Pregnancy Association notes that postpartum chiropractic care can help address pelvic imbalance, tension from nursing and carrying a newborn, and the gradual return of normal postural mechanics as relaxin levels decrease. You can read more about their chiropractic care guidance for pregnant and postpartum women on their site.
There’s a pattern that shows up constantly in postpartum patients. Neck and upper back from staring down while nursing. Wrist and forearm strain from carrying. Lower back fatigue from all the bending, lifting, and rocking. None of it is dramatic. But it compounds when you’re already running on no sleep.
Care does not stop once the baby arrives. The same practice can look after everyone else too, with care for the whole household at every age.
Who Should Avoid Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy?
Contraindications are listed in the red flag section above. Core principle worth restating: chiropractic is appropriate for most low-risk pregnancies. High-risk, get medical clearance first. No exceptions.
OB flagged complications? Get their signoff before you schedule anything. We work alongside the obstetric team. Dr. Brockway reviews the full health history at the initial evaluation and won’t start care if there’s clinical reason to hold off.
If at any point during care you experience sudden abdominal pain, vaginal bleeding, fluid leakage, or a sudden spike in blood pressure, stop care immediately and contact your medical provider.
Pregnancy-Related Sciatica and Pelvic Pain
Sciatic nerve pain during pregnancy is extremely common. The growing uterus puts direct pressure on the nerve. Pelvic misalignment makes it worse. Adjustments that restore sacral and lumbar alignment take the load off. Radiating pain down the leg tends to respond well.
If you’re dealing with pregnancy-induced sciatica and lower extremity nerve pain, that page covers how we approach sciatic nerve compression in more detail.
Pelvic and hip pain during pregnancy often shows up at the same time as lower back dysfunction. The SI joints and hip flexors are under constant strain. We address all of it together. If you want more background on how we approach pelvic misalignment and hip pain during and after pregnancy, there’s a dedicated page for that as well.
Lower back pain during pregnancy is almost universal. But how bad it gets depends a lot on what’s happening in the lumbar spine and pelvis. For a deeper look at lower back pain that escalates during pregnancy, that page outlines what’s usually going on mechanically and what treatment looks like.
Ready to Book Your Prenatal Chiropractic Appointment in Denver?
Right off I-25 and Colorado Blvd in Denver. Patients come from Cherry Creek, Capitol Hill, Park Hill, Highlands, Lakewood, Aurora, and the surrounding neighborhoods.
Dr. Brockway has been in practice for 15 years and has worked with pregnant patients throughout all stages of pregnancy. We have 145 Google reviews at a perfect 5.0 stars.
First visit is a full evaluation. About 30 minutes. Dr. Brockway goes through your history, checks spinal and pelvic alignment, and talks through what care would look like at your current stage. No adjustments until the clinical picture is clear.
Most major Colorado insurance plans accepted.
Glendale Chiropractic
425 S. Cherry St., Suite 307, Glendale, CO 80246
Phone: 720-889-1659
Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM and 2:30 to 6:00 PM
Friday through Sunday: Closed