Cranial osteopathy for babies

Pippa Middleton has recently written an article in praise of osteopathy, having taken her one-year-old son for treatment. In Waitrose Weekend this week, she describes her experience: “I was fascinated to see how calming it was for him"

Osteopathy is often considered to lack scientific proof. The following are examples of the most recent studies on infants.

A study by Clive Hayden, DO found that “osteopathic treatment was very effective (to a p-value of p<0.001) in alleviating the uncontrolled crying of the colicky baby”.

In 2020 an Italian randomised controlled trial showed that a “10-minute osteopathic treatment produced significant changes in the heart rate and oxygen saturation levels of premature babies” compared to static touch. This study only looked at the immediate effect. “Long term clinically significant effects” need to be investigated with further studies.

Italians in 2013 found that osteopathic treatment was effective in reducing the length of stay in hospital (and therefore costs) of pre-term newborns. Their weight was not affected by the treatments.

A 2016 Canadian study showed the osteopathic treatment to be beneficial to babies with sucking difficulties when offered alongside breastfeeding instruction from a lactation practitioner.