Most Important Chiropractic Patient* by Dr Harte, Corte Madera

Understanding that real Chiropractic is about expressing Life (contrary to common belief), the answer to “who is the most important chiropractic patient” becomes obvious… the pregnant woman.

Why? Well, there is some credence to concern about the increased strain on mom’s spine involved with pregnancy. Backaches and some general discomfort during pregnancy? Sure, this is pretty common. Does chiropractic care help with this? Sure, but this is not the point of chiropractic care. It has long been noted that pregnant women under chiropractic care usually have an easier time of labor and delivery. But that, too, is not the point of Chiropractic.

What is going on inside you when you are pregnant? What is going on is nothing short of miraculous, not to be downplayed as some mundane medical process. First, there is the union of the sperm and the egg, at the exclusion of all the millions of other sperm cells. (I know that you know this part at least, but I ask you to think on it.) The one fertilized egg divides and becomes two cells. I still remember that moment, long ago in college, in embryology lab. The subject was frog eggs, since they fertilize externally, and they are big enough to be seen under a dissecting scope, which is a very low power microscope. I poured the frog sperm on the frog egg, and then I waited. That moment when one egg enlarged, and then became two… amazing!

The two cells become four, sixteen, and so on, until a point in which cells, originally identical, begin to differentiate and migrate. The first thing to develop is the primitive streak, the progenitor of the nervous system. Yes, the nervous system is there right from the beginning, to control and coordinate the development of every other system. In about nine months, without any direction from the outside (including the obstetrician), you have a perfectly formed and functioning baby, unless there is interference.

Have you figured it out yet? The reason why THE most important chiropractic patient is the pregnant woman? Well, your health determines your baby’s health, and THE #1 determinant of your health is a nervous system free of interference, allowing you to express life as close to 100% as possible.

Yes, I know, as a pregnant woman it seems like you have to suffer from advice from every quarter, even total strangers. But do take care of your nervous system. It is the most critical determinant of your health and your baby’s health.

Don Harte, D.C.

(415)460-6527

www.chirodrharte.com

www.facebook.com/harteofchiropractic

www.correctingthecause.blogspot.com

* “Patient.” I only use the word in this post as popular usage. I do not use it in my practice, as most other straight chiropractors. The reason is that that word derives from the Latin verb “patior,” which means “to suffer.” I find that the term “practice member” is much more appropriate.