What we check
- Neck and mid back mechanics, especially the feeding and looking-down pattern
- Rib mobility, diaphragm movement, and breathing pattern
- Sacroiliac joint motion and pelvic symmetry after birth
- Hip mobility, glute function, and single-leg loading
- Carrying, lifting, and feeding mechanics as you actually do them
- Cesarean scar area tolerance and healing status, if applicable
- Whether pelvic floor physical therapy referral is warranted
- INSiGHT nervous system scan findings
- Sleep, wrist and thumb pain, and any headache pattern
What to expect
Your first postpartum visit starts with your birth story and how recovery has gone, including whether you've been cleared and whether you're breastfeeding. We assess your neck, mid back, ribs, pelvis, and hips, watch how you lift and carry, and run an INSiGHT nervous system scan. If care is appropriate that day you'll receive an adjustment sized to where your body is in recovery, plus hands-on soft-tissue work. You'll leave with specific changes to your feeding and carrying setup, and a referral to pelvic floor physical therapy if that's what your symptoms call for. Babies are welcome in the room.
Book a first visitRecovery Runs Longer Than Six Weeks
Your pelvis carried a rapidly growing load for months and your abdominal wall stretched around it. Ligaments that softened during pregnancy don’t snap back on a schedule, and breastfeeding keeps some of that laxity around longer.
- The physical job then changes but doesn’t get lighter
- Lifting a growing baby dozens of times a day, often from awkward heights — a crib rail, a car seat base, the floor
- Feeding for hours, usually curled forward
- Carrying an infant seat that weighs more than the baby, on one side, across a parking lot
- So first-year complaints aren’t really pregnancy leftovers — they’re new patterns built by a new job
- The two overlap, which is why postpartum care needs to look at both
What Shows Up in the First Year
Five patterns account for most of what we see.
- Upper back and neck. The single most common one — hours a day looking down at a feeding baby, shoulders rounded, mid back locked. It builds slowly and becomes constant, often with headaches at the base of the skull.
- One-sided everything. You have a carrying side, a feeding chair, a hip the baby rests on. Within a couple of months your body has a strong opinion about which side does what, and the overworked side complains.
- Low back and pelvis. Especially getting up from the floor, lifting from a car seat base, or after standing and swaying a long stretch. Pelvic girdle pain that started during pregnancy sometimes lingers here.
- Wrist and thumb pain. From the grip used to lift an infant under the arms, over and over.
- A core that doesn’t respond. Your abdominal wall and pelvic floor need a graded return, not a hard restart; hard abdominal work too early tends to backfire.
Pelvic Floor and Core: Our Scope
Pelvic floor symptoms are common, are not something you have to accept as permanent, and are not chiropractic’s lane.
- Leaking with a sneeze or a run, heaviness or pressure, pain with intercourse, difficulty controlling gas or stool
- That work belongs with a pelvic floor physical therapist, and if you don’t have one we’ll help you get connected
- We think everyone who has given birth benefits from at least one pelvic floor PT assessment, vaginal or cesarean
- Same with diastasis, the separation of the abdominal wall — we don’t claim to treat it
- What we do assess is how your ribs, pelvis, and breathing mechanics are working, because that system is what your deep core has to function inside
- Chiropractic and pelvic floor PT tend to work well side by side, each handling what it’s actually equipped for
What Postpartum Care Looks Like Here
We start with your birth: how it went, vaginal or cesarean, any complications, recovery since, whether you’re breastfeeding, and how you’re sleeping.
- We assess your neck and mid back, ribs and breathing, pelvis and sacroiliac joints, hips — and, genuinely, how you carry, lift, and feed
- An INSiGHT nervous system scan measures how much tension your nervous system is holding; postpartum, that’s often the number mothers care about most, because it tracks with feeling wired-and-exhausted
- Adjustments postpartum can be more traditional than during pregnancy — you can lie face down again, which most women find is a small joy in itself
- After a cesarean we work around the incision entirely and stay very gentle there until you’re well healed and cleared
- Force is still matched to what your body is ready for; loose ligaments after birth mean we don’t rush
- Soft-tissue work on what’s taken the load: upper traps, the muscles between your shoulder blades, hip flexors, glutes
- Then we fix the setup — where the feeding pillow sits, changing table height, getting the car seat out of the base, which shoulder the diaper bag lives on
- Those small changes are what stop the pattern rebuilding between visits
- And yes, bring the baby: kids are welcome at our office, and plenty of moms have their own visit while their baby is being seen
Starting, and How Long It Takes
There’s no fixed date to begin — some women come in a couple of weeks after birth, some at nine months when the carrying load finally caught up with them.
- If you had a complicated birth or a cesarean, get cleared by your provider first and tell us the details
- Most women notice the upper back and neck pattern responding first, since it’s the newest
- Pelvic patterns that ran through the whole pregnancy usually take longer
- We give a specific recommendation after your assessment rather than an open-ended plan
- Many families stay on for ongoing family chiropractic care once the acute stuff settles, and many bring their baby in for their own pediatric assessment at the same visit
See a medical provider right away if you notice
- Heavy bleeding — soaking a pad an hour, or passing clots larger than a golf ball — call your OB or midwife immediately
- Fever, chills, or foul-smelling discharge — possible infection; seek same-day medical care
- Redness, swelling, warmth, or drainage at a cesarean incision or tear repair — call your provider today
- Severe headache, vision changes, or new swelling in your face and hands — preeclampsia can occur after birth, sometimes weeks later; seek urgent care
- Chest pain or shortness of breath — call 911
- Pain, swelling, warmth, or redness in one calf — possible blood clot; go to urgent care today
- Thoughts of harming yourself or your baby, or feeling unable to care for yourself — call or text 988, or go to the emergency department. Postpartum depression and anxiety are common and treatable; tell your OB, midwife, or primary care provider
- Breast redness with fever or flu-like symptoms — possible mastitis; call your provider
- New loss of bladder or bowel control, or pelvic heaviness that's worsening — see your OB and a pelvic floor physical therapist
Common questions
How soon after birth can I be adjusted?
There's no single answer. Many women come in within the first few weeks. If you had a cesarean or a complicated birth, get cleared by your OB or midwife first and let us know the details so we can work gently around what's healing.
Can chiropractic fix my diastasis?
We don't treat diastasis and won't claim to. What we assess is how your ribs, pelvis, and breathing are working, since that's the system your deep core functions within. Rehab for the abdominal wall itself is best guided by a pelvic floor physical therapist.
I'm leaking when I sneeze. Is that something you handle?
That's a pelvic floor physical therapy question, and it's very treatable. We'll help you get connected with a PT. Chiropractic care can run alongside that work, addressing the pelvic and rib mechanics around it.
Can I bring my baby to my appointment?
Yes. Kids are welcome at our office, and many moms schedule their own visit alongside their baby's pediatric assessment.
Is it too late if my baby is already nine months old?
Not at all. Some of the most common patterns we see — the upper back and neck pattern especially — are built over months of carrying and feeding, so they often peak well past the newborn stage.
This page is educational and is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Chiropractic care does not treat or cure disease; it supports the function of the nervous system and spine. Please speak with your pediatrician or a licensed clinician about your family's specific situation, and seek immediate care for any urgent symptom.