Fine-Tuning Babies: Carol Gray on Fetal Constraint and Craniosacral Therapy
If your baby has a head turn preference, a flat spot, or trouble latching, this episode might explain why — and what you can do about it.
Carol Gray has been a therapeutic bodyworker for 36 years, specializing in craniosacral therapy for pregnant, birthing, and postpartum parents and infants. A doula for 35 years and home birth midwife for 12, Carol has spent decades developing hands-on, movement, and strengthening techniques to give babies more room to develop, grow, and get born — and post-birth, to help them fine-tune their optimal development. She is a leader in Craniosacral Therapy. Health professionals from all over the world travel to study perinatal and infant CST with Carol.
In this episode, Carol and Dr. Emily unpack fetal constraint: how limited movement in the womb shapes a baby's body, birth, and development in ways that are subtle but significant. And, most importantly, what you can do about it.
In this episode:
What craniosacral therapy is and how it developed
Fetal constraint: what it is and why it matters
Parental, fetal, and cultural factors that limit baby's movement in utero
Why engagement isn't always good news
The signs of constraint in a newborn — head turn preference, C-curve, asymmetrical face, flat spots
Why "my baby dropped" might not be cause for celebration
Infant constraint: swaddling, containers, and freedom to move
How CST is uniquely suited to address the subtleties of constraint
Why tummy time starts at birth
