On the walls of maternity wards, posters advising new parents to take their baby to the osteopath are multiplying, to the great displeasure of many health professionals who denounce the uselessness and even the dangerousness of this practice.
Difficult breastfeeding, night crying, constipation, colic, bloating… The reasons for consultation displayed by pediatric osteopaths are very diverse. But above all very common in newborns.
"These sessions are simply useless," says Christele Gras-Le Guen, pediatrician at the Nantes University Hospital and spokesperson for the French Pediatric Society. "All these symptoms are physiological and disappear naturally around four months."
On social media, videos of osteopaths handling babies are very popular. On TikTok, those of David Yaiche – aka Monsieur Prout – who “frees babies from gas”, have accumulated up to 40 million views.
A child who seems relieved, satisfied parents, but nothing miraculous, according to the president of the National Council of the Order of Masseurs-Kinesitherapists. "It's just abdominal massage, simple common sense that we explain at the maternity ward. There's no need to have a consultation at an average of 60 euros to relieve a child who has gas," maintains Pascale Mathieu.
"The osteopaths who offer these sessions are only looking to develop their business by taking advantage of parents' anxiety," she accuses.
– “Not a medical diagnosis” –
In France, osteopathy is one of the “unconventional care practices”, in the same way as homeopathy, hypnosis or acupuncture.
Osteopaths are therefore not considered health professionals. Their consultations are not reimbursed by health insurance but some mutual insurance companies cover them.
In the case of infants under six months, manipulation of the skull, face and spine is strictly prohibited without a medical certificate of no contraindication.
This condition is "never applied in practice", according to the admission of the president of Osteopaths of France, Dominique Blanc, who explains that "doctors do not want to take responsibility".
"Parents still bring their babies before six months and, to my knowledge, there has never been a single problem," he says.
For her part, pediatrician Christele Gras-Le Guen claims that certain maneuvers are potentially dangerous, and explains that she has been confronted several times with babies who have become unwell "during or after osteopathy sessions."
In its latest report on osteopathy, the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (IGAS) raised the need for a "register of serious accidents resulting from these practices".
On their websites, some pediatric osteopaths claim to be able to treat "Kiss syndrome", which is manifested by repeated crying and an arched posture, linked to a blockage in the neck.
Problem: "It doesn't exist. It's not a medical diagnosis. We give a syndrome name to common symptoms in infants," protests Fabienne Kochert, a private pediatrician in Orleans and former president of the French Association of Ambulatory Pediatrics.
– “Placebo effect” –
Faced with certain abuses in the profession, the Academy of Medicine recalled this week that visceral and cranial osteopathy practices are "without proven scientific basis", with "unproven" effectiveness and safety.
Regarding plagiocephaly – a deformation of the infant's head and a frequent reason for consultation – the High Authority for Health (HAS) reaffirmed to AFP that "the scientific data do not allow osteopathy to be recommended".
The Academy of Medicine – whose opinions have no legal status but are a reference in medical terms – has thus "denounced the advertisements" promoting these practices in maternity wards.
"If a child is healthy, he does not need an osteopath. And if he has a pathology, he needs a health professional," summarizes Pascale Mathieu.
Despite the lack of evidence of its effectiveness, osteopathy is popular in France. The number of exclusive practitioners peaks at 15,000, compared to less than 6,000 in the United Kingdom.
Proof, according to Dominique Blanc, “of the recognition of patients who are increasingly numerous in coming to consult us”.
But for Fabienne Kochert, this "success" is mainly the result of the amplification of medical deserts. "We have a deficit of health professionals who take care of children, and increasingly worried parents who turn to osteopaths, but these sessions have above all a placebo effect."
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