Dr. Amy Watson

 

Dr. Rebecca Higginson

Dr. Amy Watson

Dr. Amy Watson is the joyfully married mama of three young children. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Psychology. During her own healing journey, she discovered the wonders of chiropractic care. This led her to change her career goal from being a family counselor to becoming a chiropractic physician.

She began chiropractic school in 1999 and had her 1st child midway through the program. This experience helped her learn firsthand about the unique needs of the prenatal and postpartum chiropractic patient. After the birth of her son, she began learning more about chiropractic care for infants. She began focusing on treating moms and babies in the student clinic, began taking craniosacral therapy seminars, and completed her senior internship with Dr. Elise Hewitt, an expert in the field of pediatric chiropractic. She graduated from Western States Chiropractic College in 2003, and worked closely with Dr. Hewitt at Portland Chiropractic Group for two years.

In 2005, she founded Whole Mama ~ Whole Child. She feels incredibly blessed to be living her dream: balancing the magic of motherhood and family time with the joy of working with the hundreds of amazing families at WM~WC

Dr. Rebecca Higginson

Dr. Rebecca Higginson is a board certified chiropractor specializing in women’s health and pediatrics. She recognizes that poor health originates from the body’s inability to adapt to environmental stressors, and uses her training to facilitate and guide the body’s innate healing ability. As a certified yoga instructor, she also ties movement, breathwork and meditation into her bodywork.

Dr. Higginson is passionate about treating women in all stages of life, but is especially interested in treating women throughout pregnancy and postpartum, when they are deeply connected to their bodies. It is also a time when incredible changes occur, which can cause discomfort and pain. She also loves working with children and babies, whose energy she finds uplifting and contagious.

Dr. Higginson holds a degree in Human Biology and Physiology from Northern Michigan University. She went on to earn her Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Western States Chiropractic College in Portland, and trained in craniosacral therapy through the Upledger Institute. She currently lives in NE Portland with her husband, David, and her pug, Ruby. In her free time, Dr. Higginson is an outdoor enthusiast who loves being active.

Chiropractic Care

Craniosacral Therapy

Pregnancy

Birth

Postpartum

Breastfeeding

Parenting

Organic Living

Local Family Resources

Whole Mama Whole Child is located at 5515 NE 30th Avenue, Portland, OR 97211.

Mapquest Map (but I wouldn’t trust their directions!)

From I-5 Northbound (or I-84 eastbound):

  • Take I-84 Eastbound (exit 300)
  • Take the first exit (33rd Ave)
  • Turn Left onto 33rd and go over freeway
  • Continue north on 33rd for two miles (approximately 6 minutes)
  • Turn Left onto Killingsworth (the first light after New Seasons Market)
  • Turn Right onto 30th Ave
  • WM~WC is almost immediately on the left-hand side, in a brick storefront called “The Core Source”
  • The address is 5515 NE 30th Ave

From I-5 Southbound

(don’t use the MapQuest directions!)

  • Take the Alberta exit
  • Turn Left onto Alberta St and go over freeway
  • Continue down Alberta across MLK and up the numbered cross streets (about 6-10 minutes)
  • Turn Left onto 30th Ave
  • Go north a few blocks and cross Killingsworth
  • WM~WC is almost immediately on the left-hand side, in a brick storefront called “The Core Source”
  • The address is 5515 NE 30th Ave

From I-84 Westbound

  • Take the 43rd Ave exit
  • Turn Left at “T” onto Halsey St
  • Turn Right onto 39th Ave and quickly get in the middle lane!
  • Turn Left onto Broadway (this is a tricky intersection—you are going to cross Sandy, then veer left onto Broadway, going between the Starbucks and The Pagoda Chinese Restaurant)
  • Turn Right onto 33rd Ave
  • Continue north on 33rd for two miles (approximately 6 minutes)
  • Turn Left onto Killingsworth (the first light after New Seasons Market)
  • Turn Right onto 30th Ave
  • WM~WC is almost immediately on the left-hand side, in a brick storefront called “The Core Source”
  • The address is 5515 NE 30th Ave

From Close-in SE Portland

  • Option One (39th Ave)
    • Take 39th Ave over I-84, get into middle lane
    • Turn Left onto Broadway (this is a tricky intersection—you are going to cross Sandy, then veer left onto Broadway, going between the Starbucks and The Pagoda Chinese Restaurant)
    • Turn Right onto 33rd Ave
    • Continue north on 33rd for two miles (approximately 6 minutes)
    • Turn Left onto Killingsworth (the first light after New Seasons Market)
    • Turn Right onto 30th Ave
    • WM~WC is almost immediately on the left-hand side, in a brick storefront called “The Core Source”
    • The address is 5515 NE 30th Ave
  • Option Two (28th Ave)
    • Take 28th Ave north from Burnside Street
    • Cross I-84, follow curve in street past Fred Meyer
    • Turn Right onto Broadway
    • Turn Left onto 33rd Ave
    • Continue north on 33rd for two miles (approximately 6 minutes)
    • Turn Left onto Killingsworth (the first light after New Seasons Market)
    • Turn Right onto 30th Ave
    • WM~WC is almost immediately on the left-hand side, in a brick storefront called “The Core Source”
    • The address is 5515 NE 30th Ave
  • Option Three (MLK/Grand)
    • Take Grand Northbound, it will merge into MLK Blvd
    • Continue North for about two miles (approximately 5-10 minutes)
    • Turn Right onto Killingsworth
    • Turn Left onto 30th Ave
    • WM~WC is almost immediately on the left-hand side, in a brick storefront called “The Core Source”
    • The address is 5515 NE 30th Ave

From NE Portland

  • It’s on 30th and Killingsworth, 3 blocks from the Concordia New Seasons!

Drs. Amy Watson and Rebecca Higginson provide chiropractic care and CranioSacral Therapy for babies, kids, mamas, and mamas-to-be.

Our practice is limited to the care of infants, children, pregnant and postpartum women. During each of these magical times there are unique reasons to seek better balance in the body. In our experience, there is no better way to achieve this balance than through chiropractic care and craniosacral therapy. It is our passion to work with babies, kids and their mamas to maximize their health.

As a practitioners of the healing arts, we see our role as a facilitator of health, rather than a ‘healer’. We work with the body’s inner wisdom to restore balance and optimize wellness. Spinal and cranial restrictions interfere with the body’s natural ability to function properly. Freeing these restrictions minimizing any torsion, tension, or imbalance in the system and allows the body to function at 100% of its given potential.

Newborns

Birth is one of the most traumatic processes our bodies ever go through. First the infants body is jammed in basically one position in the uterus for the last couple months of gestation, a condition referred to as ‘intra-uterine constraint’. This in and of itself can create massive imbalance and restriction in the body. Then the body must endure the extreme forces of birth. Whether the birth involves passing through the birth canal, or being pulled out through an incision of the uterus, there is an incredible amount of force placed on the delicate spine and cranium. If interventions such as forceps or suction need to be used, the stress to the baby’s body increases. Intra-uterine constraint and birth trauma (which can happen even during a ‘normal’ or ‘routine’ birth) are major causes of spinal or cranial restrictions.

The spine grows 50% in length in the first year. Never again in a person’s lifetime will they grow that rapidly. And 65% of the total lifetime growth of the brain happens in the first year alone!

Infants

Once the baby successfully deals with the stress of making the transition to the outside world, they begin to learn to control and maneuver their bodies in increasingly complex ways. Mastering the skills of rolling, sitting, crawling, standing, and walking involves a great deal of falling and countless ‘bonks’ on the head, the sides, and the bum. These numerous, relatively minor traumas add further stress to the developing spine and cranium. Additionally, this is a time of incredible growth. The spine grows 50% in length in the first year. Never again in a person’s lifetime will they grow that rapidly. And 65% of the total lifetime growth of the brain happens in the first year alone! To ensure that all of this growing is done on a balanced, stable foundation it is vital to have regular chiropractic and craniosacral care by a practitioner who understands the unique needs of infants.

Children

From toddlers to adolescents, children continue to push their bodies to the limit. Running, jumping, wresting, climbing trees, carrying heavy backpacks, and participating in competitive sports all continue to aggravate the developing spine. Periodic chiropractic check-ups can minimize the effects of these insults to the system and prevent injuries from building up to the point where they create chronic symptoms later in life. It is our firm belief that problems that begin in adolescence or adulthood can usually be traced back to injuries that may have occurred years before. The structure of the body affects the way it functions. Underlying problems in the structure of the body can accumulate over the course of time long before they are manifested as symptoms. Even when a child is not complaining of pain, they may be beginning to store up the effects of injuries and abnormal tension on their bodies. These layers can eventually add up to create pain and dysfunction later in life. Chiropractic care and craniosacral therapy during childhood is essential to a preventative wellness approach.

Pregnancy

Chiropractic care during pregnancy can help to minimize the typical discomforts associated with this time of transformation as well as facilitating an optimal labor and delivery. Chiropractic care during pregnancy is gentle, safe and effective, and is endorsed by a prominent medical doctor: “It is our personal theory that chiropractic care in pregnancy can help to avoid or relieve back pain and also prepare your back and pelvic structures for the stresses of labor and birth.” (Martha Sears and William Sears, MD, 1997).

Normal, physiological changes of pregnancy contribute to spinal stress in the mother-to-be. Hormonal changes include increased progesterone, estrogen, relaxin, prolactin, HCG, HCS, cortisol and aldosterone. Some of these hormones lead to ligamentous laxity and increased joint mobility which make the pregnant woman’s spine more unstable and prone to discomfort and injury. There are also important biomechanical changes that occur during pregnancy, including weight gain, increased breast size, change in the center of gravity, increased lumbar lordosis, and an increased load on the spine.

Labor

Dr. Amy considers herself a ‘chiropractic doula’, and loves to support mothers during the labor process with both emotional encouragement and manual therapy to decrease physical discomforts. Massage, craniosacral therapy, and gentle chiropractic adjusting can help relax the laboring woman and encourage the normal birth process. She may be available to attend home or birth center births for her current patients in this capacity. She can then perform a newborn exam soon after birth and begin care for the infant immediately if appropriate.

Postpartum

When she feels better, she can better care for her baby, and be more present during that magical ‘babymoon’, encouraging more positive interactions between mother and baby—what better gift could we ever hope to give?

One of the greatest travesties in our society is the lack of attention that is focused on new mothers. After having been endlessly encouraged to care for herself, being doted upon and given lots of special treatment during pregnancy, the mother is all but forgotten about once the baby is born. This is a time when the woman needs more attention than ever. She continues to have ligamentous laxity, and now she adds to it the numerous sustained, awkward postures of motherhood. Breastfeeding for literally hours each day, carrying or wearing the baby, leaning over to change diapers, bending down to pick up toys, lifting a heavy diaper bag, doing all the extra laundry - the list of postural stresses on a mom’s body is endless (and this is especially true if they have older children as well). And all of this is handled by a person who is most likely getting less sleep, living on less income, and getting less time for self-care than ever before. Now take into consideration the massive hormonal fluctuation and propensity for mild to severe postpartum depression. It is basically a recipe for disaster.

We encourage mothers to come in for care as soon as they are able after birth. They are welcome to bring their babies and older children along to their appointments in our office. We are happy to work with the mama on the table as they kids play at our feet, or sometimes ‘help’ us care for her. We also usually have an extra pair of arms around the office to cuddle newborns as needed. Restoring balance to a mama’s body, helping her heal from pregnancy and birth, and allowing her to better handle the many stresses of mamahood are among the most important things we do. When she feels better, she can better care for her baby, and be more present during that magical ‘babymoon’, encouraging more positive interactions between mother and baby—what better gift could we ever hope to give?

Parenting

Parenting continues to challenge our bodies and minds in ways we never thought possible. I hope to support the family not only through natural healthcare, but also by providing resources and support for the challenges of parenting.

Please fill out the following form to contact us.


Drs. Amy Watson and Rebecca Higginson are board certified chiropractors whose practice is focused on pediatrics and women’s health. The majority of their patients are infants, children, pregnant and postpartum women. Their treatment approach blends gentle chiropractic care with craniosacral therapy, and may also incorporate deep tissue work, rehabilitation exercises, and yoga-based movement therapy. 

They are committed to helping their patients achieve optimal health with gentle, safe and effective care. They believe in the power of chiropractic care to address problems at the source, rather than simply covering up the symptoms. Their main objective is to restore balance to the body in order to enable each of their patients to function, and to live, as well as they possibly can.