Parents are typically recommended to see the osteopath with their newborn after a medical delivery. This guidance may include things like spatulas, suction cups, and forceps in addition to cesarean sections. After quickly defining each of these concepts, we’ll go through how osteopathy might be useful.
What Are Hemostatic Forceps, Suction Cups, and Spatulas?
When the delivery is difficult (we speak of dystocic delivery as opposed to eutopic delivery, which is a delivery that goes off without a hitch) and it takes too long for the cervix to pass, the medical staff will need to use Hemostatic Forceps, suction cups, or spatulas to help your baby get through this difficult stage.
Forceps for hemostasis:
The baby will be helped in his engagement by the hemostatic forceps, which resemble huge salad tongs. The infant may not be injured, but the forceps might leave temporary scars or hematomas on the baby’s skull.
Spatulas:
Spatulas are two large spoons that aren’t connected like pliers, but they resemble hemostatic forceps. Their responsibility is to correctly point the baby’s head towards the door. Redness or bruising has the same consequences as forceps.
Ventouse:
The suction cup appears like a suction cup, but it has a pump attached to one end to provide powerful suction. It will be affixed to the top of the head and work to aid labor by tugging the baby outwards as the contractions become stronger, once again enabling the infant to be guided. The suction caused by the suction cup may leave a little bump on the newborn. In the next weeks, it will go, and is nothing significant.
What Consequences May Hemostatic Forceps Delivery Have?
While we would like to avoid them, occasionally birthing aids and medical treatments are important for the baby’s well-being. We are aware that medicalized deliveries are a factor that favors the development of postural problems in the newborn, which may result in torticollis and plagiocephaly even if they are not painful and only have minimal side effects (source: HAS).
After a Surgical Delivery, Osteopathy
The baby’s behavior is altered by the strains that the baby’s body, especially the tissues of the skull, must experience due to the support of the devices and the “abnormal” limitations. He may develop torticollis in a “comfortable” posture, which would restrict his range of motion and result in plagiocephaly. The soft (in newborns) bones of the malpositioned cranium will aggravate reflux, suction difficulties, and other diseases.
Carian section:
A cesarean section may be scheduled if we believe the birth may be difficult, for example, due to the baby’s location in the womb. An emergency cesarean is done when the maternity team feels that the situation is becoming too difficult and endangers or might jeopardize the mother or the infant.
Effects of a C-Section: What are They?
Whether a cesarean delivery is intended or necessary, the infant will experience some effects:
The baby will not benefit from the hormones released by the mother during a hushed birth, letting him fully adapt to his new surroundings. A gradual shift like that observed with a conventional delivery does not benefit her respiratory system. In the same way, the digestive system functions. We are aware that various developmental abnormalities of these systems may result from this.
Moreover, since it does not undergo the correct compressive forces in the mother’s pelvis, the baby’s lungs do not drain adequately. To make up for this, he will subsequently need to be cautious.
Lastly, some scientists believe that interaction with the mother’s vaginal bacterial flora is necessary for the establishment of the newborn’s gut flora. As a result, it is hypothesized that persons who have cesarean delivery may have less healthy gut flora.
Osteopathy after a Caesarean Section
Favorable is the risk-benefit ratio of cesarean section. It also prevents death or saves lives. Nevertheless, a vaginal delivery is not advantageous to the infant and may result in a few small problems. Thankfully, osteopathy can often resolve this issue successfully. In addition to chest tensions brought on by the lack of respiratory problems, there may be digestive tensions that increase colitis and GERD in newborns. Also, the infant is more worried and nervous more often, which causes muscular tension and endangers his healthy world exploration growth!
The osteopath will be able to identify these tensions and then be able to relieve them using precise manipulations specific to the child. The infant will be better prepared and less prone to exhibit abnormalities as a consequence.