Thank you so much for choosing our practice to be part of your journey to health, preconception and beyond.
I have been eager to share knowledge, information, resources and hope to couples just like you. For over 13 years, I have witnessed to power and potential of chiropractic in individuals and families. I am fortunate to witness miracles in our office every single day. One of the most exciting parts of my practice is being a part of the parenthood journey with expecting moms and couples. From preconception, to pregnancy, to post-partum and pediatrics, I am honored to share the joy in this magical time.
My goal in practice originally was to “help moms feel better during pregnancy”, because no one wants to be in pain for 9 months, right? But when I actually took a step back to fully understand the power that chiropractic could have on influencing a healthier pregnancy for mom and baby, a less stressful journey for mom, better birth outcomes for mom and baby, and improved breastfeeding and post-partum health for mom and baby, my focus began to change. No longer was this about pain management (even though an awesome side effect of prenatal chiropractic is feeling better), but rather about health, epigenetic changes (we’ll be talking about this a lot over the next few months), influencing optimal prenatal fetal development, improving birth, and most importantly, empowering MOM to be in control of her birth journey for herself and her child. To listen to her intuition, trust her amazing design, surrender to herself and not to someone else’s plan.
But the answers to these questions were missing: “How can I get moms (couples) to be HEALTHY before they conceive? How much of an impact could we make on the health of future generations if couples were super healthy to start with? How much easier would it be to conceive if mom and dad (partner) were so healthy that it would be almost impossible to not get pregnant? How much better would mom feel AND function during pregnancy if she were in optimal health prior to getting pregnant? And how much better would birth outcomes be if mom AND baby were in rock star health and didn’t need all the unnecessary interventions?”
A light bulb went off that in order to really improve the prenatal journey and birth outcomes, I needed to connect with moms/couples BEFORE they got pregnant. To help future parents understand that the choices they make NOW can improve their lives and the lives of their future child(ren). In too many cases, preconception journey looks like this: couple get married, couple decides to get pregnant like yesterday, it’s not happening as fast as they want it to, couple is devastated, couple goes to infertility clinic, couple goes through all the treatments, couple hates it, couple spends a ton of money, couple is stressed out, couple wants to give up, couple tries chiropractic as “last hope”, couple gets pregnant. If this couple’s story ends with a baby, then it’s a great story, right?
What if the story looked like this? Young woman wants to be healthy and proactive about all aspects of her reproductive life, so she sets out on a journey to discover the true underlying cause of menstrual challenges/irregularities (with or without a plan of getting pregnant) because she understands that properly functioning hormones and systems are crucial to her overall well-being. Or a couple is engaged and looking to start a family someday. They want the smartest, happiest, healthiest kids on earth, and are willing to make the health changes now, so that when the time comes, conception is easy, life is less stressful, they are not spending their entire life savings on IVF and drugs, the pregnancy is not high risk, the parents feel confident and empowered, they trust their bodies, and they know that this is the safest option for everyone.
How different would it look if couples used chiropractic first, to get their nervous system, hormones, reproductive systems, gut, mind and health in balance BEFORE actually conceiving a child? Would it make marriage less stressful to being feeling great, happy and healthy? Would it make marriage less stressful to avoid being pumped full of hormones that change how we feel and act? Would it make marriage less stressful to not drop $30,000 on rounds of IVF, and then have a high risk pregnancy on top of it?
Take a moment and visualize how you want your preconception journey to look? Natural…ease…love….joy…normal. Or medicalized….hard…resentful…stressed…lab. Visualize the pregnancy journey. Healthy…radiant….vibrant….ease…normal. Or stressed….sick…testing…fear….worry…struggle. Now visualize the birth journey. Trust….uncomplicated….normal…healthy…natural…safe. Or fear…control…managed…surgical…technological.
When we take a step back to realize that our health status prior to pregnancy (for mom AND dad!) plays a HUGE role in conception, prenatal health and post-partum outcomes, it is exciting to know that our destiny is in our hands. This is where the Schaefer Protocol comes in.
Like I said, I have been passionate about bellies, bumps and babes since I was in chiropractic school. I have sought out extensive post-chiropractic school training to become the best prenatal chiropractor I can possibly be. Webster Technique Certified; Certification by the Academy Council of Chiropractic Pediatrics (CACCP); Advanced Perinatal Technique; Trained with Doulas of North America; Advanced Labor Positioning; Spinning Babies; Breast Feeding Coalition of South Central WI; a variety of safe, gentle and effective adjusting techniques for pregnancy, babies and kids. Tons of reading, research, training, education, collaboration.
In 2017 I discovered the Schaefer Protocol for preconception health while taking my ICPA series of modules towards certification, as it was one of the required courses. I implemented some of the techniques, but I was quite busy working towards certification, so it was not my main focus. Finally in June of 2019, I was able to begin extensive training on the Schaefer Protocol, and that brings us to today. Dr. Marcia Schaefer has been studying, revamping and incorporating new things into her protocol, and has had AMAZING results at creating healthy couples to conceive, and grow healthy babies, and I am so excited to be a part of this world. Her protocol was the missing piece in my office, and as dedicated I am my practice members, she is as dedicated to teaching this protocol to prenatal chiropractors to create healthier humans in their communities.
Let me just say when I look at 2020 and beyond, I cannot wait to see how the reality of health, preconception, pregnancy, post-partum and kids changes in my community. Because once you know and understand this information, you will not want to go back to “status quo, go with the flow”. You will understand the importance of ownership of your health and dreams, and know that the possibilities are endless when our nervous system is able to function as it was intended.
And that is why I am so glad you are here. Not because your back hurts. Not because you want a baby. But because you understand (or want to understand) that only way to create the healthiest baby possible, is to start with the healthiest versions of mom and dad (partner) possible.
The Schaefer Protocol is work, but so is parenthood. It combines chiropractic, specific nutritional supplementation, lifestyle changes, mindset changes, and more. It sets us free from our current reality, so that we can reach greater potentials than ever imagined.
You can’t reach for the stars if you are buried. You can grow. You can thrive. You can become whole.
Thank you for coming on this journey. I cannot wait to get started on this together. Get started here.
