Dr. Lynn Gerner, DC FICPA – Infant Craniosacral Therapy helps with breastfeeding problems

Dr. Lynn Gerner, DC FICPA discusses how Infant Craniosacral Therapy works in an infants body to relieve pressure or misalignments in the baby’s body that may happen during the birth process. Often mom’s are referred to lactation consultants as a first step when having difficulty nursing., Lactation consultants are an important ally for mom and baby, just generally wonderful. Often they assess what is happening focused on mom: how is mom holding baby, how is mom’s milk supply, how does baby’s mouth fit on mom’s nipple for a good latch and suck. If problems still persist after this point, Dr. Lynn can use gentle, accupressure like adjustments- Infant Craniosacral Therapy – to help relieve pressure or misalignments in baby’s body, particularly focused on spine, neck and skull for breastfeeding. These structures allow the baby to open the mouth fully and symmetrically on both sides. It allows the tongue to be strong to reach the roof of the mouth for the nursing reflex. The motion of the neck will allow baby to turn her neck form side to side to be able to nurse comfortably from both sides. Pressure, or lack of abnormal pressure, within the nervous system will determine if the baby is generally comfortable or tight and tense during the whole process. Babies spines and skulls are mostly cartilage at birth. This allows the baby’s head to pass through the birth canal, with the bones of the skull compressing in on themselves. Sometimes, they do not come back to properly alignment. The trauma of labor or a long labor, can cause abnormal pressure, rotation or misalignment on the baby’s skull and spine. It can even happen in utero especially if there is compromised space. The compression can contribute to difficulty in nursing. Infant Craniosacral Therapy realigns the neck, jaw and skill in relationship to each other. This results in baby’s ability to fully open his mouth to achieve a strong suck and make a generally overall happy baby.