What is Osteopathy?
Osteopathy is a holistic manual therapy that focuses on restoring alignment, mobility, and optimal function throughout the body. Using gentle hands-on techniques, osteopathic treatment helps reduce pain, release tension in muscles, fascia, and ligaments, and improve joint mobility. By supporting healthy circulation and reducing pressure on nerves and blood vessels, osteopathy promotes better communication between all tissues and systems. The goal is to identify and treat the root cause of discomfort, supporting whole-body balance and long-term health for each individual.
Osteopathy can help reduce lower back pain, pelvic pain, hip discomfort using gentle techniques support the changing biomechanics of pregnancy and help improve daily comfort.
Prenatal osteopathic treatment helps maintain optimal pelvic alignment and mobility, which may support more efficient fetal positioning and prepare the body for labour and delivery.
As the body adapts to a growing belly and shifting centre of gravity, osteopathy helps improve postural balance, joint mobility, and overall movement patterns to reduce strain on muscles and ligaments.
Hands-on techniques encourage relaxation of tense muscles, improve circulation, and promote a deep parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) response - helping manage both physical and emotional stress during pregnancy.
Osteopathy can improve diaphragm movement and rib mobility, which often become restricted in later pregnancy. This can support easier breathing and reduce upper back or rib cage discomfort.
As the body undergoes rapid changes, osteopathy offers trimester-specific support to help manage ligament strain, round ligament discomfort, sacroiliac joint pain, and postural shifts.
Osteopathy during pregnancy
Osteopathy can help address tension in the jaw, neck, and shoulders that may affect a baby’s ability to latch or feed comfortably—supporting both breast and bottle feeding.
Gentle manual techniques may help babies experiencing gas, reflux, constipation, or colic-like symptoms by supporting mobility of the diaphragm, abdomen, and overall digestive function.
Osteopathy helps support balanced movement, head rotation, and early motor patterns, which can be beneficial during key growth phases and developmental milestones.
Gentle intra-oral osteopathic techniques can help release tension in the jaw, tongue, and oral tissues, which often become tight or restricted with tongue and lip ties. This work can support improved latching, sucking efficiency, and overall feeding comfort, both before and after a release procedure.
