The Webster Technique ~ Can Chiropractors Turn Breech Babies
AUTHOR // Pamela Stone, D.C.
Can chiropractors turn breech babies? That is a question I’ve been asked before, and since I’m now teaching for the ICPA (I teach Perinatal Care with Webster Technique certification), it’s a question I pose to the doctors at each seminar. The answer is, simply, no—that’s not what we do. We leave the turning of babies up to the obstetricians. Or, really, it’s up to the baby to turn themselves. And that is exactly where chiropractors come in.
The Webster Technique is a chiropractic analysis and adjustment, and it’s all about balancing out the pelvic bones, muscles, and ligaments. When you do that, you create a better environment for the baby. And if you are making that environment as ideal as possible, then the baby has more space to move around. Babies know what is best. They have an amazing intelligence within them that created their body. Mom didn’t take a special pill to form the legs or heart or eyes; the miracle of life within that little body is what created itself. And the same intelligence that created them is what will help birth them. Babies will move into the head-down position if they have the ideal environment. If the space they are in allows them to move head down, they will. That is where they want to be.
A baby will be breech, or sideways, or perhaps even posterior, if it doesn’t have that ideal environment to live in. If their cord is wrapped around their neck too many times, or if the mother’s pelvis is subluxated and is not moving properly, then the baby’s space is restricted, and it might not be able to freely move. The baby knows what is best.
The body has an amazing ability to heal and regulate itself, and interference in the nervous system may negatively affect the ability to adapt and function optimally. I take care of pregnant women every day, month in and month out. And making a difference in their life and in the lives of their babies is truly amazing. The Webster Technique is extremely effective—especially if done accurately and specifically, and with positive intentions.
Any chiropractor can adjust a sacrum and rub on a belly, but the specific contact points are what set a Webster-certified doctor apart from a general chiropractor. During pregnancy, a woman picks her birth provider—either an obstetrician or a midwife, someone who is specifically trained in pregnancy. They wouldn’t choose an internist or cardiologist for the perinatal care; they chose a specialist for their situation. Pregnancy and chiropractic should be no different: Pick someone who is certified in it. If I’m ever looking for a chiropractor for a pregnant person in a different city, I send them to someone who has the certification through the ICPA (ideally DACCP, CACCP, or is at the very least Webster-certified).
Taking care of pregnant women is so exciting. I love being on the journey with these people—to see their bodies change, to see how they change, to see how they handle pregnancy and then birth. I love adjusting them and checking the babies soon after. The Webster Technique can make such a big difference in their pregnancy and labor. No, we aren’t turning babies. We are taking care of someone during pregnancy, reducing any interference in their nervous system, creating better movement in the pelvis, balancing out muscular and ligament stress, and providing a better environment for baby to be in. When done specifically and accurately, it can be life-changing.
