Caesareans cut with Chiropractic care
CAESAREANS CUT WITH CHIROPRACTIC CARE: HOME-BIRTH ADVOCATE
PREGNANT women can reduce the potential for a caesarean delivery with pre-natal chiropractic care, visiting USA-based pediatric chiropractic expert and home birth advocate, Dr Jeanne Ohm.
Dr Ohm, a mother of six home-birthed children, speaking at the “Chiropractic Care in the Community” said that the high rate of caesarean deliveries in Australia could be cut if more women discovered the benefits of chiropractic care.
“Caesarean deliveries in Australia have risen in the past 10 years from one-in-five births to more than one-in-three(i),” she said. “Studies show that this rate could be reduced if more women consulted a chiropractor early in their pregnancy for assistance in adjusting the spine, strengthening pelvic muscles and allowing the baby best possible position for a non-interventional birth.”
Dr Ohm’s current international research (which includes data from Australian women) on the role of pre-natal chiropractic care throughout pregnancy and its outcomes for a natural birth shows that chiropractic care can assist in a faster, safer, natural birth.
“Women who have caesareans require longer stays in hospital, more attention from staff, have an increased risk of complications from surgery and take longer to recover than women who give birth naturally,” said Dr Ohm.
According to the CAANSW, access to chiropractic care for pregnant women - and the community in general - has the potential to not only improve clinical outcomes, but reduce public health care costs, cut hospital queues and free-up the availability of other health services.
Chiropractic is the world’s largest non-surgical, non-drug prescribing, primary contact health care profession.
Adapted from CAANSW MEDIA RELEASE FRIDAY, 26 FEBRUARY 2010
References
I Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report, 2003.
Further research “Estimating the Rate of Cesarean Section by Maternal Request: Anonymous Survey of Obstetricians in Australia” September 2009.
Ii http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bsc/bir/2009/00000036/00000003/art00005
ii NSW Health Quarterly Hospital Performance Report (October to December, 2009)
Coffs HarbourBaseHospital was identified by the report released last week week as one of 13 NSW hospital emergency departments performing below benchmark.
iii Clinical Utilization and Cost Outcomes from an Integrative Medicine Independent Physician Association: An Additional 3 –Year Update , Sarnat RL, Winterstein J, Cambron JA; Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. May 2007 (Vol 30. Issue 4, Pages 263-269)
Evaluation of a CAM Pilot Project in Northern Ireland, Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Donal McDade, May 2008.
http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/final report from smr on the cam pilot project – may 2008.pdf
Integrating Chiropractic Health Care in a Primary Care, Hospital-based Setting, Kopansky-Giles, D. Primary Health Care Transition Fund, Final Report, December 2006
Integrative Care Model Reduces Wait Times, McMorland, DG, April 2007
A randomized controlled trial on the effectiveness of clinical practice guidelines in the medical and chiropractic management of patients with acute mechanical lower back pain. Bishop P, Quon J, Olson D, Nixdorf D, Yee B, Fisher C, Dvorak M. Can J Surg. Vol. 50, Suppl., Jun 2007
http://www.worksafebc.com/contact_us/research/research_results/res_60_10_380.asp
The study found that patients suffering from acute lower back pain who were treated by chiropractors had significantly better health outcomes than those treated by their family doctor, including greater improvement in physical functioning quality of life and reduced pain.