Upper East Side Chiropractor Helps Babies Recover from the Stress of Being Born

Published: 2010-09-01 15:08:53
Author: Gabriela Resto-Montero | DNAinfo | May 10, 2010

It's been a tough first week for little Nicolas Berber.

The newborn was so tense after his delivery he needed an Upper East Side back doctor to ease out the cricks in his tiny spine, his mom told DNAInfo.

"I know the path he had to go through was so difficult," Jillian Berber, from Washington Heights, said. "I just want him to get a good start in life."

Nicolas is one of a growing number of stressed-out tots heading to chiropractors for realignment — making it the No. 2 most common alternative treatment being used on children, experts said. Using natural products is No. 1.

"In New York, we're all acutely aware of how much tension we accumulate," said Dr. Amy Burke, who adjusted her own daughter when she was just six-hours-old and treated Nicolas in her East 71st Street office, Flourish NYC.

"The same is true for babies and it's about letting them let go of any tension they may have stored up."

Nicolas' back pain started to build up on April 28 during a drug-free, all-natural birth helped by a doula at St Luke's Hospital.

Since then, the days of nursing and sleeping have taken their toll on his frame.

On Wednesday last week, he curled up on his mother's stomach while Burke adjusted his spine — a process she says applies the same amount of pressure as a quarter resting on an adult's arm.

He then burped, and fell asleep.

The procedure was nothing new for the baby, who started feeling the benefits of a chiropractor's hands when he was still in the womb.

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