An eight-month-old presented with difficulty sleeping. He had never slept well from birth.
That tells me that some trauma happened during the 40 weeks of gestation. Mom reported nothing unusual except that he was vacuum-assisted, a technique used in about 3% of all deliveries in America.
In my examination, he had an unusual presentation of his craniosacral fascial system. Other than a zero-second brain cycle and tight neck, he appeared to be fine. Let’s walk through the steps to possibly explain his health situation.
If a birth is calling for a vacuum extraction, then we can assume he became stuck in the birth canal and needed help to be delivered. If pushing was not completely successful, we can also assume that there was some pulling on his neck to get him out. That translates into possible neck fascial strain to create a zero-second brain cycle.
The suction pressure of the plastic cup over his fragile cranium can create strain in the dural meningeal covering of his brain. Tightness here can also create fascial pressure that will not allow the brain to normally expand and contract well. Voila, a second reason to result in a zero-second brain cycle.
These phenomenon are off the medical radar screen because there are no tests for fascial strain. No one is also checking for brain motion. The provider has to actually feel the tissues to detect these characteristics.
In 45 years of working with babies, I have found that newborns with tight heads almost always exhibit difficulty in sleeping. Maybe they have a chronic headache or maybe the function of their hypothalamus or medulla oblongata have been compromised. The sympathetic nervous system may also not be able to turn off so the calming and relaxing parasympathetic nervous system can prevail.
The tipoff was that mom said he had trouble from day one, indicating a birth trauma. Since then, she has consulted many conventional medical specialists without an answer.
One doctor recently diagnosed possible sleep apnea and recommended a sleep study. I suggested that she hold off to see if this work helps him.
I am not adverse to the judicious use of vacuum extraction, but the newborn needs to be checked and have immediate treatment, if needed.
My therapy started to free-up his meningeal soft tissue covering to allow his brain to expand and contract. At the end of the first visit, his brain cycle opened to an excellent 80 seconds. I expect a positive outcome.
Successful treatment at birth can be life-changing. In my mind, Gillespie Approach Training is a must for every newborn provider.
