How an Osteopath Supports Fertility, Pregnancy, and Newborn Health

23 August 2013 - Health Within Osteopathy

Osteopathy offers gentle, effective support throughout the entire journey of motherhood, from fertility and pregnancy, to labour preparation and postnatal recovery. Our Westmere clinic offers specialised pregnancy osteopathy to help expectant mothers manage discomfort and prepare their bodies for labour. Our paediatric trained baby osteopaths in Westmere, Auckland provides holistic osteopathic care using gentle techniques to ease tension, improve alignment, and support your body’s natural healing.

Fertility support with osteopathy

If you're trying to conceive, osteopathy may help improve your chances by supporting the body’s structural, hormonal, and circulatory systems.

Difficulties getting pregnant or carrying to term can sometimes relate to mechanical imbalances, stress, or underlying conditions like endometriosis, PCOS, ovulation issues, or fallopian tube blockages.

At our clinic we:

Work alongside midwives and fertility professionals
Assess pelvic alignment and mobility
Support healthy circulation and lymphatic flow
Help balance your hormonal and nervous systems
Offer advice on diet, supplements, and physical wellbeing

Osteopathic care can gently prepare your body for conception and a healthy pregnancy.

Osteopathy during pregnancy

Pregnancy brings rapid changes, physically, hormonally, and emotionally. While it’s a special time, it can also come with discomfort, including:

Back or pelvic pain
Sciatica
Headaches
Reflux or heartburn
Breathing difficulty
Swollen or aching legs
Fatigue or fluid retention

As your posture shifts and your organs make room for the growing baby, your body may struggle to adapt, especially if there were pre-existing issues.

Pregnancy osteopathy offers a gentle, hands-on approach to ease these discomforts and support your body’s natural ability to adjust.

Our osteopaths can:

Gently relieve pain and tension
Improve pelvic and spinal mobility
Promote better circulation and drainage
Create space for the baby to move and grow naturally

Our goal is to help you feel balanced, aligned, and more comfortable — supporting a smoother pregnancy and easier labour.

Osteopathic treatment for new mothers

After childbirth, your body has gone through a lot. Stretched ligaments, joint strain, and soft tissue trauma. On top of that, daily tasks like feeding, lifting, bending, and carrying baby can take a toll.

If left untreated, these strains can lead to:

Back or neck pain
Headaches
Pelvic pain or dysfunction
Shoulder tension
Period problems
Constipation or mastitis

Osteopathic treatment can help realign your body, ease discomfort, and speed up your recovery — so you can focus on bonding with your baby and enjoying this special time.

Baby osteopathic treatment

The birth process is physically demanding for babies too. During delivery, a baby’s head moulds to pass through the birth canal — but sometimes this process is incomplete, especially after a fast or difficult birth, or if forceps or ventouse were used.

This can lead to tension in the head or body, which may contribute to:

Colic or reflux
Poor sleep
Flat spots on the head (plagiocephaly)
Feeding or latching difficulties
General irritability

Our experienced baby osteopaths use soft, precise techniques to gently release these tensions and support healthy development.

If you're looking for gentle, experienced support during pregnancy or for your baby, our Westmere osteopaths are here to help.

Real stories: Relieving the strains of pregnancy

"If I had known during my pregnancy that osteopathy could help, I would have started earlier. At about 15 weeks of pregnancy, I started to get awful back pain and aching in my pelvic joints. I ended up with what my OB called 'the worst case of pelvic arthropathy he'd seen in a long time'. This slowly got worse over the course of the pregnancy and included pubic symphysis pain. Auckland osteopath Rebecca has worked wonders on aligning my pelvis and I feel less pain and more mobile as time goes by. I would definitely recommend osteopathy to any pregnant woman who is having pelvic issues."

~ Irma

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