Chiropractic Care and
Respiratory Distress in an Infant

Chiropractic Care and Respiratory Distress in a Newborn

Maleea’s birth was very difficult, the hardest of my three children. Her head was stuck in the birth canal totally looking over her left shoulder. The doctor could not get her head into an upright position. Having had two babies before, I knew how to push, but I could not deliver her. I pushed for over two hours, with Maleea in the birth canal most of that time. I was exhausted. I didn’t realize how close I was to a c-section. The doctor was packing up to go to the surgery room.  Maleea must have sensed this and she was born, with me ripping a lot!

From the time of her birth she could not turn her head past center, meaning she could not look to the right side. The pediatrician said that her muscles were probably pulled from birth and she would heal. Other mothers, and experienced women would ask me why she breathed funny sometimes (a panting sound).

At about 2 ½ months old Maleea was in her baby swing, (near the kitchen sink) when I checked on her. She was blue, she was not breathing, she was dying. I grabbed her trying to remember my CPR. I was still just trying to “shake and shout” when I put her in the sink and let cold water run over her body.   I was thinking that “if I give her a breath as scared as I am, I will blow up her lungs.”  I said a quick prayer, filled my cheeks full for a small puff, but then Maleea took a deep breath on her own, and cried. It was the most beautiful cry ever. All of this happened within seconds.

We jumped into the car, and went to the emergency room. They didn’t have an explanation of why she did this or really how to prevent it, seeing she was almost at a sitting up position when it happened.  They said that sometimes things like this happen. They fitted her with an S.I.D.S. monitor, gave my husband infant CPR lessons and sent us on our way. The monitor was heavy and if it got touched the wrong way it would make a horrible noise. The noise would wake Maleea and her 23 month-old sister, so we would have two crying babies.  The worst part was that my heart would stop each time it went off thinking that Maleea could be in trouble, and that the only thing to do was to catch her and bring her back when she started to die.

My husband and I were going to Dr. David Spear for our regular chiropractic adjustments.  Upon entering the office Dr. Spear immediately inquired about the machine that Maleea was hooked up to. We explained what had happened.  When he heard our story Dr. Spear asked if he could check Maleea for any spinal misalignments.  Upon examining Maleea he found a misalignment in her upper neck.  He explained to us how this was consistent with her inability to turn her head and also how this might interfere with her ability to breath.  Dr. Spear gently adjusted Maleea with an activator.  The results were immediate.  As soon as we put her back into the car seat to go home she looked over her right shoulder for the first time. She didn’t breathe funny any more. She was healed. 

After a few weeks we took the monitor back, she didn’t need it anymore. Maleea is now a perfectly healthy little girl with no signs of her past problems. She now looks forward to her regular adjustment with Dr. David.

Thank you Dr. Spear for healing my baby.
Valerie Bond

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