Provided by ICPA.
Rainbow Polyvagal Pregnancy
Jessica came to me midway through her second pregnancy, seeking to prepare her body for birth. Her first labor had stalled, and her doctor resorted to a series of ineffective interventions that culminated in her daughter’s surgical birth. After healing and thoroughly studying her experience—the way many of my VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) moms do—, Jessica decided she needed both chiropractic care to balance her pelvis and a homebirth midwife who could offer the time and compassion missing from her first experience.
When I examined Jessica, I realized her case required more than simply preparing her body for labor. Her presentation revealed signals suggesting she might also be at risk for a perinatal mood disorder. Perinatal mood disorders include postpartum depression, anxiety, anger, and psychosis. While the latter garners most of the media’s attention, it is the least common, affecting 1 in 1,000 women. Meanwhile, the first three impact an estimated 1 in 7 women. These conditions, which may begin anytime between the 38th week of pregnancy and the baby’s first year, are the most common complications of pregnancy. Yet they are often underreported—likely because most birth providers stop follow-ups around eight weeks postpartum—and, therefore, go under-appreciated. Common treatments, include antidepressants and talk therapy that show similar rates of effectiveness, but I’ve been working on a hypothesis that there may be a third option.