Marie relayed that Jack had bruising on the right side of his head, just off center, above his right eye. You could see it on the surface of his skin; his right eye was also squinty.
What was barely visible, but could only be felt, was that Jack had a combination of a misalignment of the atlas vertebra, the top bone of the spine, in addition to his TMJ (jaw) being tight and his palate being dropped—all on the right side. The combination of these issues meant he had significant difficulty opening his mouth and turning his head. Imagine trying to eat a meal without being able to open your mouth fully or being able to turn your neck. Now you can imagine the difficulty Jack was experiencing, and the concern and frustration of his parents, especially his mother.
Even under the most ideal circumstances, the birth process exerts tremendous pressure upon the newborn—let alone if the baby’s position is less than ideal or if any sort of intervention is used such as an epidural, Pitocin, forceps, vacuum extraction, or C-section.
This is why it’s so important to get newborns checked by a chiropractor trained to work with babies—they’re able to adjust and help unwind those stuck and compromised areas. In turn, the baby will have the best chance to fully develop without undue stress on his growing body. This allows for optimal function.
Once it was clear what we needed to adjust with Jack, we made sure Marie understood what we were going to do: apply a very gentle and specific pressure, no more than the amount you would use to check to see if a tomato is ripe, in order to release the compromised areas. His little body, which at first appeared to be uncomfortable and stuck in a posture toward the right, slowly began to unwind. The ease he began to experience was palpable and visible. His jaw relaxed. His right eye, drawn tight because of the tension, had relaxed. His head slowly moved into a comfortable, neutral position. Marie saw it: It was very clear. You could almost hear the sigh of relief, as if he wanted to say, “Ahhh…I’ve been waiting for that.”
We waited a moment, appreciating what had just happened. Then Jack was ready to nurse. This is very common when little ones get an adjustment, especially if they haven’t been able to get a good latch. It’s as if they are making up for lost time, and make up he did! Marie was able to get him to latch in a way she hadn’t before, and felt such tremendous relief for being able to do so.
We worked with Jack for several months to continue to unwind the tension in his body. Marie worked on his latch and was able to establish a solid breastfeeding routine. That first adjustment paved the way toward future success.