In my perfect world, every newborn would have access to therapy. This has not yet happened in hospitals, where 99% of Americans are born but can be available for home births.
Hospital staffs are unaware of our work and generally will not allow outside providers to do any newborn procedures for legal reasons.
This is a typical scenario for my office procedure. The parents have seen the therapeutic benefits on their last infant and now want the work for their newborn as close to birth as possible as a preventative measure.
Baby A was born the Sunday before Labor Day. When I saw him on Wednesday, he had a great brain cycle of 220 seconds but had some tightness in his digestive and diaphragmatic areas.
When mom returned on Friday, she said his gas was gone. He was a calm and relaxed newborn, unlike his siblings. I continued to work on that area to help release as much fascial strain as possible.
Since I never know when a newborn is strain-free, I told her to see how he does in the next few months. Chances are good he will be fine.
But if he develops reflux due to undetected strain in his lower esophageal sphincter area, please bring him in for more therapy. For an unknown reason, the body may not present all of the strain directly at birth.
I believe that someday our work will be the standard of newborn care for all hospitals. One way to start that process is for trained PTs and OTs, who have hospital privileges, to work on strained NICU babies.
For general acceptance, hospital staffs need to see what we do, see that it is safe, and see that it works. Safety is by far the most important aspect in the NICU.
Once hospitals are comfortable with and see the value of our work, they can incorporate it into their "birth package.” Gillespie Approach Training is a must for all neonatal providers.
