Webster Technique Chiropractic Care in Williamsville, NY

What the Webster Technique Actually Is

The Webster Technique is a specific chiropractic analysis and adjustment developed for pregnant patients, and it has two parts. First, the doctor assesses how the sacroiliac joints are moving and where the sacrum sits between the two halves of the pelvis. Second, the doctor delivers a gentle, low force adjustment to that joint, then follows it with a sustained, light soft tissue contact over the round ligament at the front of the abdomen. The goal is balanced motion and less muscular and ligamentous pull, not force or speed. Certification is a separate postgraduate course rather than something every chiropractor holds, and both Dr. Niccole Jefferlone and Dr. Safeya Muhammad have completed it.

A general adjustment and a Webster adjustment are not the same thing, even though both involve the pelvis. A routine visit for low back pain might include a rotary lumbar adjustment, a drop table contact, or work higher up in the thoracic spine, chosen on the day from whatever the exam shows. Webster is narrower than that. It follows a set sequence, it uses positioning that keeps pressure off the abdomen, and it pairs the joint work with the ligament work every single time. If you want the mechanics of how a chiropractic thrust works, what the audible pop is, and the full list of techniques used in this office, our chiropractic adjustment page covers that ground and this page will not repeat it.

This page is deliberately narrow. Our prenatal chiropractic page covers the wider arc of care through all three trimesters, including postural change, sleep, general low back pain and what care looks like after delivery. What you are reading here is one procedure: the analysis, the adjustment, the ligament contact, who it suits, and what honest expectations look like. Families in Williamsville often ask for Webster by name after a friend, a doula or a childbirth class mentions it, and they deserve a straight description of what it is and what it is not before a first visit. If it turns out not to be the right fit for your symptoms, we would rather say so at the start.

Pelvic Alignment, Sacral Motion and Round Ligament Tension

Your pelvis is three bones and a set of joints, not a solid ring. The sacrum, the triangular bone at the base of the spine, sits between the two ilia and meets them at the sacroiliac joints. Those joints move only a small amount, and that small amount matters. During pregnancy, hormonal changes increase ligament laxity across the whole body, the growing uterus shifts your center of gravity forward, and the low back curve deepens to compensate. More available motion plus a changing load is the combination that lets one sacroiliac joint start behaving differently from the other. That asymmetry, and the muscle guarding that comes with it, is what the Webster analysis looks for, which is why the exam compares both sides against each other rather than measuring either one alone.

Patients rarely describe it in those terms. What they describe is a deep, one sided ache just inside the dimple above the buttock, pain that spikes when they roll over in bed, a grinding or catching feeling at the pubic bone on stairs, or a leg that feels unreliable when they stand on it to pull on a sock. Some feel it as sciatic type pain down the back of the thigh. The pattern usually worsens late in the day and after long standing, eases briefly on sitting, then bites again the moment they stand back up. Make a note of which of those fits you before your visit, because the specific movement that reproduces your pain becomes the thing we recheck at every follow up.

The round ligaments are the third piece. They run from the upper sides of the uterus down and forward toward the groin, and they stretch considerably as the uterus grows. When one side is short or irritated, patients feel a sharp, grabbing pull low in the abdomen with a cough, a sneeze or a fast change of position, and it can be alarming the first time it happens. The Webster sequence includes a light, sustained contact over that tissue, held rather than pressed hard, to let the tension settle. Many patients find that part of the visit calming, though it is not comfortable for everyone, the response is not the same from person to person, and the doctor stops the moment you ask.

• How each sacroiliac joint moves when you shift weight from one leg to the other
• Where the sacrum sits relative to the two halves of the pelvis
• Tension and tenderness in the gluteal muscles, the psoas and the inner thigh adductors
• Round ligament tone on both sides, compared left to right
• Pubic symphysis tenderness and how it responds to gentle pressure
• Gait, standing posture, and how you get on and off the table
• Which specific movements reproduce your pain, so there is something concrete to recheck later

An Honest Word About Breech Position

Somewhere along the way the Webster Technique picked up a reputation as the adjustment that turns a breech baby, so it is worth being blunt. Webster is defined as an analysis and adjustment of the sacroiliac joint and the soft tissue around it, intended to reduce joint dysfunction and improve pelvic biomechanics. It is not performed on the baby, and no one in this office repositions a baby with their hands. The published literature linking Webster care to breech presentation is mostly case reports and small case series, which is a weak level of evidence and cannot establish cause. There are no good controlled trials showing that it changes fetal position. Any office that promises otherwise is telling you something the research does not support.

The modest version of the idea is the one worth hearing. If the pelvis and the soft tissue around the uterus are under uneven tension, the theory goes, the room available is not symmetrical, and easing that asymmetry lets the baby use whatever room there was. That is a plausible mechanism, not a proven one, and it is never a reason to delay a conversation with your obstetrician or midwife. If your baby is breech in the third trimester, your medical provider is the person to talk with about external cephalic version, monitoring, timing and delivery planning. We are glad to work alongside that plan and to keep you comfortable while it unfolds. We will not work in place of it.

So what do we actually claim? That many pregnant patients find they move, sleep and stand more comfortably during a course of Webster care, and that pregnancy related pelvic girdle pain often responds to joint and soft tissue work. Research on chiropractic and manual therapy for pregnancy related low back and pelvic pain is broadly encouraging but limited in size and uneven in quality, so results vary and no honest practitioner can promise an outcome. Some patients notice a difference within a visit or two, others take several weeks, and a few do not respond at all and are better served elsewhere. We would rather tell you that early, and point you somewhere more useful, than keep you on the schedule without a reason.

What Your First Webster Visit Looks Like

The first appointment starts with a conversation, not a table. We ask about your due date, how this pregnancy compares to any earlier ones, whether you have had a pelvic injury, a fall, a car crash or previous back trouble, and exactly where and when the current pain shows up. We ask who is managing your prenatal care and whether anything in this pregnancy has been flagged as higher risk. That last question matters, because it changes what we do and sometimes means we contact your provider before we treat at all. Bring the name of your obstetrician or midwife. New patient forms are on our Paperwork page if you would rather fill them out ahead of time and keep the first visit moving.

Then we look at how you move. We watch you walk, stand and shift your weight, we palpate both sacroiliac joints for motion and tenderness, we check where the sacrum sits, and we assess the muscles that attach to the pelvis, including the glutes, the psoas and the adductors. Round ligament tone gets compared side to side, and the pubic symphysis gets checked gently. We do not take x-rays during pregnancy. The exam is hands on, low tech and specific, and every finding gets written down, because a baseline you can measure against is the only way to tell later whether care is actually helping you or simply filling the calendar.

The adjustment itself is quiet. You lie on your side, or face down only if you can be positioned with no pressure on the abdomen, and the contact is a short, low force push, often assisted by a drop piece so the table absorbs most of the effort. Nothing twists your belly and there is no deep pressure over the uterus. After the joint work, the doctor holds a light contact over the round ligament for a short time. Many patients also get soft tissue work and a stretch to take home. The first visit runs longer because of the history and exam, while follow ups are short, which is why many patients from around Williamsville slot one in on the way home from work.

• Wear stretchy clothes you can move in, since you stay dressed for the exam and the adjustment
• Eat something first, because lying flat on an empty stomach is unpleasant late in pregnancy
• Tell us if lying on your back makes you lightheaded, and we will position you differently
• Bring your obstetrician or midwife's name in case we need to coordinate care
• Say so the moment anything feels wrong, and the doctor stops
• Plan on a longer first visit and much shorter follow ups
• Text ahead if you are running late, since the same number takes calls and texts

Who It Suits, and When to Call Your Provider First

Webster care suits a pregnant patient with an uncomplicated pregnancy who is dealing with pelvic or low back discomfort, or who wants the pelvis moving well as the load increases. There is no single correct starting point. Some patients come in during the first trimester because they already have a history of sacroiliac trouble, many start in the second when the weight shift becomes noticeable, and plenty arrive in the third because sleeping has become a nightly negotiation. It is also reasonable to come in without much pain at all, the way you might see a physical therapist to stay ahead of a problem rather than chase one later. What it does not suit is a pregnancy your medical provider has flagged as complicated.

Chiropractic care is not a substitute for prenatal medical care, and we do not present it as one. Your obstetrician or midwife manages the pregnancy. We work on joints and soft tissue, and we stay in that lane. There are also situations where we will not adjust until your provider tells us it is fine, and situations where we will not adjust at all. Vaginal bleeding, leaking fluid, regular contractions before term, a diagnosis of placenta previa or preeclampsia, severe or unusual abdominal pain, and any change in the baby's movement all belong with your medical provider first. Tell us about any of those at the front desk when you arrive, not halfway through the visit, so nothing gets missed.

Some symptoms are not a chiropractic problem at all and need same day medical attention. Sudden severe headache with visual changes or swelling, chest pain, shortness of breath, calf pain and swelling on one side, a fever with abdominal tenderness, or a fall followed by pain or bleeding are all reasons to call your obstetric provider or go to the emergency department rather than call us. Back pain that wakes you every night, comes with fever, or comes with new numbness, weakness or loss of bladder or bowel control also needs a medical evaluation before manual care. Our conditions page covers the non pregnancy version of those warning signs, condition by condition, in more detail than this page does.

• Vaginal bleeding, or fluid leaking
• Regular contractions before your due date, or other preterm labor symptoms
• A noticeable decrease or change in the baby's movement
• Severe headache with visual changes, or sudden swelling in the hands and face
• Severe or unrelenting abdominal pain that is different from your usual round ligament twinges
• Fever, chills or pain with urination alongside your back pain
• New numbness, weakness in a leg, or any loss of bowel or bladder control

How We Measure Progress and How Often You Come In

Progress in pregnancy care is measured against a moving target, because your body keeps changing while we treat it. That is why we write down specific markers on the first visit. Not a pain score alone, which drifts, but things you can actually check: how many times you woke up because of hip pain, whether you can roll over in bed without bracing, how far you can walk before the ache starts, whether stairs still catch at the pubic bone, whether you can stand on one leg long enough to get dressed. Those are the questions you get asked at follow ups, and the answers tell us far more than a number between one and ten ever could.

Visit frequency is not a fixed package here. Early on, patients often come more than once a week if they are uncomfortable, then spread out as things settle. Later in pregnancy some come back a little more often, because tissue tolerance changes quickly in the final weeks. The plan gets reviewed out loud, and you are welcome to ask why any visit is being recommended. If two or three visits pass with no meaningful change in the markers we wrote down, we will say so rather than let it drift. Sometimes the answer is a different approach in this office, and sometimes it is physical therapy, a pelvic floor specialist, a support belt, or a conversation with your obstetrician.

Home care carries most of the weight between visits. That usually means a short stretch or two, side sleeping with a pillow between the knees to keep the pelvis level, avoiding long single leg loading such as standing with your weight parked on one hip, and short frequent walks instead of one long one. Dr. Safeya Muhammad is Spinning Babies trained, which informs the positional and movement guidance she gives. Kinesiology taping is available when a little external support helps you get through a workday, though the evidence for taping is mixed and what it appears to offer is short term comfort and feedback rather than any structural change. After delivery, parents often ask about care for the newborn, which our pediatric chiropractic page covers.

Hours, Paperwork and Payment at Our Williamsville Office

We are at 6035 Main Street in Williamsville, and we are open six days a week. Monday through Friday the office runs from 8:00am to 7:00pm, with the doors closed from 1:00pm to 2:00pm for lunch, and Saturday hours run from 8:00am to 2:00pm. The long weekday hours exist for a reason, which is that pregnant patients often cannot take midday time off and are worn out by evening. To arrange a visit, call or text (716) 632-4476. New patient forms live on our Paperwork page, and filling them out in advance shortens the first visit noticeably. If you have a question before you come in, the same number takes texts.

On the money side we keep it simple, and we tell you before we treat. Munroe Chiropractic is out of network with private health insurance by choice, and we provide itemized receipts, sometimes called superbills, that you can submit to your plan yourself. We accept cash and self pay, major credit cards, checks, FSA and HSA cards. We do accept Workers' Compensation, no-fault auto claims and Medicare. If you were hurt in a car crash while pregnant, New York is a no-fault state, which generally means your own auto policy covers medically necessary treatment regardless of who caused the crash, subject to your policy's basic economic loss limit and its filing deadlines.

Those filing deadlines come up sooner than most people expect, so call and let our staff check your policy and handle the paperwork rather than sorting it out later. This office has deep experience documenting no-fault, workers' compensation and personal injury care, which matters more than patients tend to realize when a claim is reviewed. We have been here since 1987 and have helped more than 40,000 patients. In 2026 the practice became part of the Complete Care Chiropractic family, with the same team at the same location. Both Webster certified doctors, Dr. Niccole Jefferlone and Dr. Safeya Muhammad, are women, and patients come to us from Williamsville, Amherst, Clarence and across Western New York.

• Call or text (716) 632-4476 to arrange a visit or ask a question
• Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 7:00pm, closed 1:00pm to 2:00pm for lunch
• Saturday, 8:00am to 2:00pm
• 6035 Main Street, Williamsville, NY 14221
• New patient forms are on our Paperwork page
• Workers' Compensation, no-fault and Medicare accepted, with itemized receipts provided for out of network private insurance
• Cash, self pay, major credit cards, checks, FSA and HSA welcome