Photograph courtesy of Dr. Danielle Drobbin
Chiropractic care has become more prevalent over the last few decades as people seek alternatives to traditional Western medicine, says Dr. Danielle Drobbin, owner and chiropractor at Midtown Family Wellness. There are currently 70,000 chiropractors in the country, according to the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners. “More and more people are becoming discouraged with our current healthcare system. People are looking for alternatives,” she says. That includes chiropractic services for pregnant women and the parents of children looking for relief or help, many of whom are discovering the option on social media sites like TikTok.
Misalignments, which cause muscle tightening and pain, become more complex when treating these populations, she says. To treat them, chiropractors can receive additional schooling and certifications, including the Webster Technique, a gentle approach focused on pregnant bodies. Specific pregnancy and postpartum conditions such as sciatica, nausea, acid reflux, mastitis, and breastfeeding latching issues could all potentially be helped through chiropractic care as can pediatric issues such as colic, torticollis, reflux, and ear infections. (Dr. Drobbin has six peer-reviewed case studies under her belt in for these conditions.)
Like Western medicine, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach for specialized chiropractic care. Depending on a patient’s situation and body, it could be only a few sessions before they feel relief or it could be much longer, with proactive preventative care an essential part of the chiropractic process. “Just like you get your teeth cleaned to prevent cavities, it’s important to take care of the bones that house the nerves of your central nervous system to prevent future degeneration of discs and the health of the nerves,” she says.
However, she says that she has better results when pregnant women come to her at the beginning of their motherhood journey. “People come to me as a last resort,” she says. Those that come early in the process have little to no pregnancy symptoms, better births, better postpartum recovery, and few or no issues with their babies, she says.
From her perspective, her services aren’t in competition with traditional medicine but rather a complement, and one people seek out in a healthcare system that has issues. “We believe in a foundation of a strong, healthy spine, immune system, and nervous system,” she says. “Go to a medical doctor if you need to, and or come see us. Options are power.”
To find a practitioner specializing in pregnancy and pediatric care, she recommends visiting icpa4kids.org.
