• Stewart A

• Breast Feeding
• Infant
• Lactation
• Manipulation, Chiropractic
• Pediatric Chiropractic
• Pilot Projects
• Subluxation
• Treatment Outcome

Introduction: Paediatric chiropractic may have a role in assisting infant breastfeeding difficulties. This pilot case series study sought to identify:
1. The percentage of infants with reported breast feeding difficulties which inproved with chiropractic care;
2. The most common subluxations in infants with breastfeeding difficulties and;
3. Specific subluxation patterns associated with specific dysfunctional breastfeeding behaviours.

Methods: A questionnaire was developed to address these questions and 19 infants/mothers were prospectively reviewed.

Results and Conclusions: Improvements in breastfeeding behaviour were found in every infant in this study. The most significant outcomes occurred with improved attachment to the breast (100%), reduced extension/arching (94%) and side shaking (88%) once attached, reduced overall stress of feeding (84%),reduced pain when feeding (77%), and side preference (64%). The most common subluxation patterns involved the upper cervical and shoulder joint complexes. A larger study and some minor design changes would allow better correlation between subluxation patterns and specific dysfunctional breastfeeding behaviour. Given the possible benefits to community health, studies in this area should be given research priority.

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