Pregnancy Massage

 

The benefits of pregnancy massage or prenatal massage:

Modern investigation and research is proving that pregnancy massage or prenatal massage  can be a very bifacial to women's prenatal care and health; it should be given careful consideration to be part of you pregnancy lifestyle.  Studies indicate that massage therapy performed during pregnancy can:

• Reduce anxiety, by helping create state of relaxation you bring peace to yourself and you unborn baby.

• Decrease symptoms of depression; massage is now to reduce stress, anxiety and help with nervous tension common thinks in depression, again we want to change a person state via massage

• Relieve muscle aches joint pains, ; when you get pregnant a hormone get released  that causes ligaments to relax in the joints' this mean the muscle have to work harder to support joints and structure. They would get a little sorer than normal with all that extra work. The most common area of pain is the back; this is why you should strengthen you back before getting pregnant.

• Improved circulation ; massage general help with moving both the blood circulation and the lymphatic circulation which in turn helps reduced edema( fluid retention)

• Improved oxygenation of soft tissues and muscles; this is achieve in two parts.

  1.      When you relax the muscle around the ribs it allows you to breathe easier and freer allowing more oxygen to enter the body.

  2.      By moving the un-oxygenated blood that may not be move back to the heart to be re-oxygenated do to lack of movement during the pregnancy.

• Better sleep: one of the wonderful things about massage is hw well you sleep afterwards, I massage a man for about 15min and released the tension in his shoulder and he commented the next day how well he slept.  When you relax and reduce the body's pain the mind relaxes, this in turn relaxes the mind, and when the mind is relaxed you can sleep better.

• Help with swollen feet: You will have to get some to help with this as it might be hard. What you have to do it a milking stroke this can be done with or without oil, on skin or over clothes. The lymphatic system is close to the surface so the pressure for this is the weight of your hand on the body. Starting from the mid thigh, place your hand flat on the thigh you can start from anywhere. Move your hand towards the groin, as this is where the lymphatic nodes live. Do the area 3-4 time then move down starting at the knee and again move towards the groin. Then the calf, then the feet, spend some extra time on the feet as that is the place you have to move most of the fluid from, when you get to the feet your movement is from the foot to the groin, this should be one movement.

  
  

Massage therapy addresses different needs through varying techniques, one of which is called Swedish or relaxation massage, which aims to relax muscle tension and improve lymphatic and blood circulation through mild pressure applied to the muscle groups of the body. Massage is the recommended prenatal massage method during pregnancy because it addresses many common discomforts associated with the skeletal and circulatory changes brought on by hormone shifts during pregnancy.

Other studies have shown that pregnancy massage positively affects labor outcome and the health of the newborn, can lead to fewer complications during birth.  It is also likely that children born to women who receive massage therapy are less likely to experience pregnancy complications like low birth weight. 

My wife at the time got to experience pregnancy massage from a loving pair of hand to help with the aches and pains that she experienced. Her back, neck, shoulder and feet got the most attention. And the post pregnancy was mainly feet; I create an aromatherapy blend to help with the swollen feet, and breast massage to help with mastitis and lactation. For more info on breast massage click here to go to the breast massage page

It is important, of course, that women who have high-risk pregnancies; pregnancy induced hypertension (high blood pressure); or have experienced pre-term labor consult with their physician about any alternative care therapies, and that they find a qualified massage therapist who is experienced in working in pregnancy massage.