The most important thing they miss

I had my first child in a birthing centre which was located on the 11th floor of the hospital on the Upper West Side in New York City.

I chose it because it was a great birthing centre, and it happened to be only twenty blocks away from our flat.

Convenience and practicality are pretty high on the list of a labouring woman.

I had a midwife, a doula, and my husband helping me through the labour.

And after 3 hours of active labour (making it a total of 23 hours from the very first contraction I felt), my little baby girl was born at 3:00 in the morning.

I remember how insanely overwhelming the whole experience was. 

Giving birth, pushing a 4kg baby out of me in the middle of the night, being up moving around labouring all day, feeling intense pain, thinking how my Ironman was easier than this ... then not to mention how do I do this mommy thing ... 

It's all a lot to process.

Don't ya think?

After everything settled (and I had a huge breakfast with coffee and pancakes and eggs that amounted to probably 10,000 calories), I was ready to bring my baby home.

But, I was told, the pediatrician has to sign you off.

What does that mean, I ask?

I had no idea how these things worked.

(It was my first baby.)

The nurse explained to me that the doctor had to look my baby over to make sure everything was healthy.

Ok.

Fair enough.

That's important.

I could already tell she was fine.

But it's important to make sure everything really is doing fine.

So, the doctor finally arrived and did her thing.

With stethoscope in hand, she poked and prodded.

Heart: check.

Lungs: check.

Hips: check.

Reflexes: check.

Strength: check.

Spine?

Skull?

Alignment?

Nope. 

Nada.

Zilch.

The doc didn't check those last three things.

I thought, "Doesn't matter, I'll check her. Just let me go home."

It wasn't until years later that it dawned on me that pediatric medical doctors don't do what I would do.

To be fair, they have their specific skills, and it's essential for them to do their job.

I'm grateful for that.

What's missing is the newborn's spinal check.

That's one of the most important bits!

All newborns need to get checked after they are born.

It needs to be a standard normal procedure done by a skilled trained paediatric chiropractor. 

Or even an osteopath.

The point is, so many babies are born every day, every where, and it's usually not until the mother thinks something 'is wrong' with her baby that she takes them to see a chiropractor.

That just doesn't make any sense to me.

Why, at the hospital within 24 hours of birth, does the doctor have everything checked except for the integrity of the nervous system and spine?

Babies also undergo hearing tests too. 

But where's the assessment for the baby's spine?

Please, can someone explain that to me?

In any case, if you have a baby, or children, and they haven't had their spines checked, go NOW.

Take them to a chiropractor and have their spines assessed and adjusted.

Because it's MUCH easier to keep children healthy than to deal with grumpy difficult contorted adults.

See you at your next adjustment!

— Dr MaryAnne