The birth had gone smoothly, without any significant complications. Nevertheless, from birth, this three-week-old baby had shown a clear preference for turning their head to the right.
Initially, nothing unusual emerged during the medical history either.
During my assessment, what stood out most was increased tension around the diaphragm, in the connective tissue behind the sternum (breastbone), and around the upper ribs.
This prompted me to ask the mother to think back more specifically to her pregnancy. Had there perhaps been a period of significant stress, a sudden fright, or an event that had quite literally taken her breath away?
After a moment of reflection, she remembered a car accident at around 20 weeks of pregnancy. Naturally, she had been extremely shaken and particularly anxious because she had temporarily noticed less movement from her baby afterwards. Fortunately, everything eventually turned out to be fine.
Can we say with certainty that this event was responsible for what I felt during my assessment? No. However, it is a possible connection that I find interesting to consider and one that, from my clinical perspective, I can see a potential explanation for.
Is it important to explore these kinds of connections?
Perhaps not always essential. However, I often find in clinical practice that relevant events are not always mentioned spontaneously during an initial consultation. Not because people have forgotten them, but because they do not necessarily associate those events with the symptoms being discussed.
For me, this is valuable information. It helps me better understand why the body might be responding in a particular way. I also find that people often feel reassured when you can explain your findings and explore possible connections. In this case, it gave the mother a better understanding of what might have been contributing to her baby’s symptoms.
The response following the first treatment was noticeable. During the first few days, the baby temporarily experienced increased reflux and was considerably more unsettled. Over the following weeks, the preference for turning the head to the right gradually decreased.
At the second and final consultation, the head-turning preference was barely noticeable. We therefore focused mainly on the remaining tension in the connective tissue around the sternum and upper ribs.
An interesting case with a clear and relatively rapid improvement.
