A difficult birth can cause severe tension in the baby’s body. Osteopathy offers a gentle way to release these tensions and thus spare the newborn baby pain or even developmental disorders.
A birth is an unforgettable event – a wonderful, exhilarating experience, but at the same time a hard and exhausting work. This applies not only to mothers but also to newborns. For them, the „journey“ through the birth canal is hard graft in the truest sense of the word. Difficult or prolonged births can lead to severe shifts and tension in the baby’s musculoskeletal system. (For the mother, however, the most affected area can be the hip). These excessive tensions can remain stored in the baby’s soft and tender body – especially in the skeleton and muscles – which in turn can lead to unpleasant pain or even developmental disorders in later life.
Osteopathy offers a gentle way to release all such painful shifts and tensions. The method from the USA, which is now around one hundred years old, assumes that all structures in the body such as organs, muscles and bones can move freely to a certain extent. Accidents, injuries, shock states as well as prolonged births usually lead to tensions that restrict this natural movement. A professional osteopath invites the body to rediscover the original freedom of movement through hand and finger pressure and certain gentle techniques. Attention is focused on the strength, health and vitality in the body and thus especially on the self-healing capacity. In this way, the new mother can recover more quickly and her baby can enjoy the first weeks and months of life in a more relaxed manner.
Three body systems in harmony
From the point of view of osteopaths, our body consists of three systems that influence each other. The type of osteopathic treatment depends on which of the three systems is affected. The locomotor system (muscle-joint system) is treated with the help of „parietal osteopathy“, „visceral osteopathy“ is used for internal organs, and „craniosacral osteopathy“ is used for the body’s internal control system (brain and its associated structures). The goal is the harmony of all three body systems – because only then the human being is healthy.
To achieve this, the osteopath researches the specific points of tension that are the cause of the pain. These are often tensions that cannot be detected by any ultrasound or X-ray machine.
Examination and treatment
Before the actual examination, the young mother is asked about the pregnancy and the course of birth. Only then does the osteopathic „treatment“ take place, which is performed with the hands. The body is palpated very gently, whereby the osteopath’s attention is focused mainly on any tension. This can be true detective work, using targeted pressure on the skull bones or precise guidance with the fingertips into the neck muscle to loosen hardening of the tissue. Such skillful grips stimulate and animate the body system concerned to overcome its functional disorders on its own and subsequently to regain the original complete freedom of movement.
Cesarean section and forceps delivery
In a normal birth, it is known that fluid is forced out of the baby’s lungs in the birth canal, making it easier for the baby to breathe in. The same happens to the skull bones – they are pushed together and relax again. This acts as a developmental stimulus and has a stimulating and opening effect on the skeleton and muscles, but probably also on the nervous system and brain. With a Caesarean section, on the other hand, this natural process does not occur. The consequences: Affected newborns often have difficulty adapting, are more unstable and suffer more from restricted breathing.
Even after a forceps or suction cup birth, the forces that occur here can cause the bones of the infant’s skull, which has not yet ossified, to shift against each other. If this is not corrected, in some cases the infant’s skull continues to grow asymmetrically. With the help of osteopathy, these shifts can be compensated.
Spitting and screaming children
If newborns cry out conspicuously often or vomit repeatedly, traditional medicine usually attributes this to flatulence and interprets it as a so-called „three-month colic“. Osteopaths often find significant asymmetries of the skull in such crying or vomiting children – mainly in the area of the occiput or upper cervical vertebrae. In many cases, a narrowing of the two skull holes at the base of the skull is observed. This in turn can permanently irritate the visceral nerve (nervus vagus), which can lead to the flatulence and colic mentioned above. If, on the other hand, the lingual-oral nerve (nervus glossopharyngeus) is affected, infants will attract attention by excessive drooling.
From sleep disorders to dental problems
The consequences of such tensions in the body can range from weakness in drinking, breathing problems and muscle pain to sleep disorders and hyperactivity in newborns. In toddlers, headaches, learning difficulties, concentration problems, ear problems, defective vision (e.g. strabismus) as well as malpositioned teeth (e.g. cross bite) and dyslexia are the most common symptoms. The earlier a baby is examined and treated after a difficult birth, the better it is for its undisturbed development.
When osteopathic treatment of a baby makes sense:
| For prolonged courses of birth |
| If a suction bell or pliers have been used |
| For difficult deliveries and complicated positions (e.g. breech presentation) |
| For Caesarean section births and multiple births |
| When complications and extraordinary stresses in the pregnancy has occurred |
| For newborns with severe flatulence and colic (screaming children) |
| In infants who vomit frequently (spitting children) |
| For babies with breathing problems |
| If a child suffers from sleep disorders or often complains of headaches |
| For babies with malpositioned teeth or impaired vision |
What conspicuous features indicate this?
Usually, one part and a combination of the symptoms listed below occurs, which varies from child to child:
| Tilting of the head until forced posture weakness of head posture |
| Frequent overstretching, i.e. throwing the head back and forming a hollow back (Leaning away) especially when it gets upset |
| Circular bald spot on the back of the head |
| Wreath-like hair loss from one ear to the other, caused by rapid back and forth moving the head in a supine position, e.g. before falling asleep |
| Strongly pronounced „fear of strangers“, e.g. at family celebrations / meetings or toddler groups are with much crying and restlessness (the child only wants to be with the mother and seeks the distance to the others, feels threatened) |
| Increased susceptibility to infections, „Every infection is taken“ |
| Conjunctivitis, glued eyes in the morning |
| Rejection of the car seat or baby sling |
| An always restless, dissatisfied child, which needs a lot of attention and variety |
| Unilateral sleeping position of the child |
| Asymmetry of movement of arms and legs |
| C-shaped posture of the torso in supine position |
| Sleeping position in lateral position like a ‚C‘ bent backwards |
| Maturation problems of the hip joints, often one-sided |
| Malposition of the feet, up to the sickle foot |
| Sleep disorders, problems falling asleep, problems sleeping through the night, restless sleep |
| Screaming in sleep, interruption of sleep with sudden screaming without apparent reason |
| „Hair pulling“, scratching the face, tearing at the ears |
| „Head banging“, i.e. it bangs its head against the bars of the cot, for example. |
| High tactile sensitivity of the neck and/or head (crying of the child e.g. when putting on a cap or stroking and touching the head) |
| Cranial asymmetry, in the face and / or at the back of the head or skull |
| Gluteal fold asymmetry |
| Two different sized eyes |
| Baby’s drinking weakness (difficulties with the breast but possibly also with the bottle) |
| The baby cannot grasp the breast and cries out in desperation |
| Breastfeeding is only possible on one side of the breast, the other side is rejected or the baby cannot relax |
| Tearing open the mouth when trying to breastfeed, with rapid back and forth movements of the head. Can grasp the breast for a few strokes, but then lets go and screams in a rage. It works better with the bottle. |
| Three-month colic and „screaming children“ |
| Rotation over one side only |
| At 3 to 4 months of age, the baby lies on its back only, does not bend its legs, does not play with its feet (this is usually a prelude to turning and the reason for lying flat is an indication of increased tension) |
| Excessive drooling |
| Problems with swallowing |
| In kindergarten and school age often concentration and learning difficulties |
| Delayed motor development (does not rotate, does not crawl, cannot run in a coordinated manner) |
| The child pulls itself up very early and wants to stand. Crawling phase is skipped. |
| During the running attempts excessive falling down, no balance. |
| When falling down, the child does not catch itself with its hands, but always falls on its head. |
| Undefinable headaches, pressure in the head |
| Walks on tiptoes |
| Running with X-legs / with feet or foot turned inwards |
One consequence of not taking action may be:
| Headaches, migraines |
| Postural deficiencies |
| Restrictions on movement |
| Coordination difficulties (cycling, balancing) |
| Motor deficits |
| Learning and concentration disorders at school |
| Perceptual disorders |
| Impaired social integration |
| Emotional disorders (frustration–>irritability–>impatience–>aggressiveness) |
| Dyslexia |
In the adult, a disregarded treatment may manifest itself as follows:
| Disc problems |
| Slipped disc |
| Dizziness |
| Balance disorders |
| Movement disorders |
| Chronic back pain |
| Noises in the ear (tinnitus) etc. |