Why Range Is Important When Choosing a Health Care Practitioner

If it feels like you have seen a thousand and one healthcare practitioners and never really gotten anywhere, it is quite possible that you were simply outside those practitioners’ range.

Range is something very few people talk about, yet it is vital when you are looking for someone who can understand your situation and help you.

He was born with a cone shaped head. It looked as though he was wearing a cyclist’s racing helmet backwards. We watched the midwife gently mould it back into what eventually became a beautiful bowling-ball shape. As first-time parents, we assumed this was all perfectly normal.

Then it was time to breastfeed.

Nothing worked.

I tried and tried and tried. Not only because I believed breastfeeding was the best option for my baby, but also because I had spent my whole life carrying around large breasts and thought, “OMG. Work, God damn you. Work.” Instead, they flopped uselessly.

Family members came to help. I expressed milk. I cried, then cried some more. It became so overwhelming that at one point I said to my husband, “You cannot leave me alone with this child. It is not safe.”

During those weeks, I sought help from 12 nurses across three hospitals, as well as a lactation consultant. Despite everyone's best efforts, we still had no answers.

Eventually, my mother-in-law happened to mention our struggles to her osteopath, who suggested that we see a cranial osteopath. I had never even heard of one, but by that stage we were willing to try almost anything.

Her name was Renita Woodland.

After assessing my son, she identified an issue with his jaw that she believed was affecting his ability to breastfeed and treated him accordingly. The appointment took only 15 minutes.

At the time, we were told that we had dodged a bullet. The practitioner explained that if his jaw issue had not been identified and addressed at nine weeks of age, it may not have been recognised until he was around four years old. We were told that this could potentially have contributed to ongoing speech difficulties and might have been more challenging to correct later, as his body would have developed around the problem.

Whether or not that would have happened, I cannot know for certain. What I do know is that seeking, searching, hunting for answers for my child. Paid off. And, now if my kids have an issue I go hunting for someone who has the range we need. This applies to Homeopaths, GP’s, Specialists, Dentist and Educators.