Connecting with Dr. Valerie Nazario of Well Aligned Family Chiropractic a few months ago was an absolute pleasure. Not only is she extremely passionate about chiropractic care, specifically the perinatal population, she is also extremely personable! And as bonus, she speaks Spanish which I know extremely important for many of our clients!
Dr. Valerie sees clients in her Cary office throughout the week, and offers a variety of chiropractic services that help her clients improve their health and live their full potential, which is such a powerful and necessary services for those in the perinatal community, and beyond.
So, let’s get into learning more about Dr. Valerie!
What made you want to work with the pregnant and postpartum population?
Dr. Valerie’s passion is to help families to have a better quality of life. I found that I love to work with the pregnant population years ago. Being in practice gives me the opportunity to see many women during her pregnancy and how I impact their lives. Pregnancy is one of the most beautiful journeys, mom is creating life. But during this journey Mom experienced many changes in her body and emocionals changes as well. I want to help Mom understand all of those changes and give her body all the tools to adapt to those changes without pain. A lot of the time we concentrate on the baby that is coming but mom is important too. It’s important that mom feels healthy, without pain, being able to have quality sleep and that she is able to enjoy this new phase in her life. That’s why my priority is Mom, because our energy starts in mom's wound. If mom is healthy the baby is healthy.
During postpartum your body is under the four trimester. During this phase your body is healing and under different physical demands that come with a new baby. In this phase your baby is adjusting to the world and you're adjusting to your baby. Your body is going to experience many changes again. There are going to be changes in your hormones, your uterus will contract, your pelvic floor muscles need to get strength, your pelvic bones and more. Also mom experiences upper back stress from nursing, poor posture from holding and rocking your baby, and lack of quality sleep. It’s important to take care of yourself during this time. I want to be there for moms to give them support during this journey, help mom’s to understand all those changes but also give them the best care so you can give your baby the most and best of you.
What does a typical first session with you look like?
When you book your first visit, you will receive an email containing your New Patient Paperwork. We ask that you provide as much detail as possible in your paperwork about your specific needs. This will help the doctor connect with who you are and help us serve you best. By completing the New Patient Paperwork before arriving at our office, it will save valuable time so that the doctor can get started with your New Patient Exam as soon as possible.
During the New Patient Exam, the doctor will do a thorough history of your health to know what exams will be needed for your specific needs. After connecting one-on-one over your paperwork, we will perform a detailed assessment to determine if your neuro-spinal system is balanced. Using state-of-the-art technology, the Thermoscan, allows us to assess how your spine and nervous system are performing. After the scan, you will have a comprehensive structure analysis performed. This will allow us to see what structural compensations your body might be making to adapt to different stress on your nervous system.
After the completion of your New Patient Exam, the doctor will discuss your Report of Findings. In this meeting, the doctor will go over all the findings from your exam and will offer their recommendations for your care. During this time, feel free to ask any questions or concerns that you may have about your care plan and the next steps that will be taken towards elevating your health. If the doctor has determined that you are a candidate for chiropractic care, you will also receive your first chiropractic adjustment on this day. Prior to your first adjustment, the doctor will help teach you how to do the spinal corrective exercises that are recommended.
While we were talking, you mentioned the 3Ps that I just absolutely loved! Can you elaborate a bit more on what that means and how it impacts your care of your patients?
As a chiropractor we want to recognize the resistance to normal physiological function in pregnancy and birth. We focused on the relationship between structure(the spine) and function(the nervous system) and how that relationship affects the preservation and restoration of health. We will address the physiological and neuro-biomechanical aspects. There are three main concepts that we want to impact: power, passage and the passenger.
The power is the muscle function by nerve supply. That will have an impact on the correct uterine function and the adequate muscle function during the second stage of labor. The passage is the birth canal. During life mom can have micro or macro traumas that can affect the pelvis alignment. That misalignment can diminish the pelvis diameters creating dystocia (difficulty) during labor. When the pelvic is aligned and balanced that allows the maximum space and greater comfort for the mom and the baby. The passenger is the presentation, position and development of the baby. The Webster Technique helps to optimize the pelvis balance for maximum space and greater comfort. That helps the baby to have a better physiological environment to assume the best possible position for birth.
The most common conditions we see during pregnancy that benefits from chiropractic care are:
Morning sickness
Less lower back pain, less pelvic pain, less neck pain and less upper back pain.
Relief of sciatica, sleeping issues and headaches
Improved and balance pelvic function, muscle and ligaments
Better pregnancy and birth
When ideally would you like to see all of your clients to help optimize the treatment they receive?
We encourage everybody to come and get treated with chiropractic care. It’s never too early to start chiropractic care. Chiropractic is for everybody, before pregnancy, during pregnancy and after. Chiropractic is beneficial throughout your pregnancy, not just the first or third trimester. Chiropractors are experts in improving the functioning of your nervous system. During pregnancy 80% of women experience back pain. During pregnancy your body has to adapt to two major changes, these are gravitational changes and hormonal changes. Even the healthiest and most athletic woman will go through the same changes. Chiropractic care can benefit and positively impact your pregnancy since a good functioning of the nervous system will help you to combat symptoms such as nausea, heartburn, shortness of breath, constipation, hemorrhoids, back pain, headache and constant frequency to urinate. An adjustment in the pelvic area will help your baby have more room to grow and move, decrease pain in the pelvis and restore correct pelvic movement.
A chiropractor can also perform the Webster Technique on pregnant women. This is a specific chiropractic adjustment to the sacrum. The goal of the adjustment is to reduce the effects of a subluxation on the sacrum. As a result, it facilitates the neuro bio-mechanical function of the pelvis. A subluxation in the sacrum can contribute to a difficult delivery for the mother, caused by poor uterine function, pelvic contraction, and poor presentation of the baby.
When you are not working with clients, where can we find you?
In her spare time, Dr. Valerie enjoys spending time with her family. Dr. Valerie is very active, and she likes to play tennis, hiking, biking and going to the beach. Also Dr. Valerie likes to get involved in the community to help families improve their health and live their full potential.
