From One Mother to Another: Massage in Pregnancy, do it.
A quick introduction, I am Claire, owner of OmniMama and Omnia Health, a mother of 3 boys, from 18months to five years old. A big part of my clinic practise (and my favourite part) is working with pregnant and postnatal mothers. My own personal experience during the later stages of my first pregnancy, showed me how amazing a massage during pregnancy is and I trained in pregnancy massage while pregnant with my second son, knowing that I wanted to share this amazing treatment with others.
I could go for hours about pregnancy massage, mothers need to take time for ourselves, especially during this wonderful, albeit tiring and sometimes uncomfortable time. There are so many benefits so, from my perspective as a therapist and a mother, here are the key ones that I think you should know.
First things first, it’s safe.
Despite being a massage therapist myself, I still worried that I couldn’t be massaged in case there were any ill effects to my baby. This is an old wives’ tale, there is no reason for you not to be massaged during your pregnancy. There are some contraindications and areas that your therapist will avoid, but it is perfectly safe (however I recommend only seeing those who have had specific pregnancy massage training and a therapist who has an interest and understanding of pregnancy is also a huge perk!) I, also naively, thought that the therapist wouldn’t be able to give me a good massage if I couldn’t lie on my belly…again wrong! A therapist who has been trained specifically in pregnancy massage and you can rest assured that not only will they be able to massage you correctly, but in positions that are comfortable and safe for you and your baby.
Relaxation and Awareness
So, apart from massage being wonderful in general for the body, why is a massage in pregnancy just so good? In my experience, and from what mums I have worked with have told me, that hour when you are lying on the table could be exactly what you need to relax parts of your body that you didn’t even realise were under stress. Often as busy women, pregnant or not, we just fire on with life. We don’t take the time to realise that we have aches and pains, or we do but we brush them aside. Now during pregnancy, we can be at more risk of damage, long term or otherwise, as hormones (relaxin) relax our tissues. We can injure ourselves, without even knowing that we have done it. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to take the time to recognise what is going on with our bodies and take time to relax and become aware or mindful of our bodies.
Alleviate Aches and Pains
Anyone else experience back and hip ache through their pregnancy? Yep, me too. Many women experience pain in the lumbar (lower region) of their backs, additional children or not! This can be caused by a number of things, weight of the baby, poor posture, reduced strength of the core muscles… The list goes on. But a massage can help release the muscle tension allowing you to relax and the pain to be reduced, or cease. And as that muscle tension eases your movement can improve and pregnancy can become more active, which has so many benefits for mother (and baby) physically and mentally.
Changes in your Body
Other changes to our bodies can upset the balance of our bodies and begin to cause pain. Our boobs get heavy, of course our bellies grow, the weight on our fronts can cause strain on our backs, causing pain across the shoulders and upper back. Again, these can be alleviated by a massage. In side lying position I work on my mums help ease the strain that these changes to our bodies can cause. The results can be instantaneous. The same techniques can be applied for post-natal mothers, it is hard work once your milk comes in sometimes we adopt postures when feeding, breast or bottle, are often just whatever will suit baby and in itself this can lead to pain and discomfort. It’s hard to sit up straight, shoulders down and relaxed, when you have a tiny infant who is struggling to latch on or will only feed on one boob, or has been cluster feeding from midnight to 2am. We do whatever we have to do to feed our babies, or hold them in a way that eases their colic or windy tummies.
Some pregnant women struggle with swelling, and massage in pregnancy also helps relieve this as it promotes the flow of fluids around the body easing the discomfort that you may feel as your pregnancy goes on.
The benefits don’t stop when you go into labour either. Some therapists (myself included) are trained (and insured) to massage you throughout your labour too. This is amazing and I totally recommend this, especially for women who have a long drawn out latent phase. With the birth of my third son my latent phase started about a fortnight before he was born; long, painful and frustrating. Thankfully I called upon a colleague who had trained with me and she was able to not only ease my aches, but also de stress me. I don’t think I had realised just how stressful the situation was becoming for me. If you find yourself in this position I definitely recommend asking your therapist for a home visit and for a massage, in some cases the relaxation may be enough to help your labour to progress. My husband (not a therapist) had been paying attention to the pain relieving massage techniques so I also benefitted from these throughout my labour too. If you have a therapist that you trust, they may also be able to accompany you during your labour. This is something I recommend not only as a therapist who can practise this, but as a mother who experienced this first hand.
Mental Health Benefits
While the physical benefits are numerous, and each will depend on each mother and her lifestyle, the psychological benefits should not be overlooked. An hour of massage, as remedial or relaxation can allow you to get the rest you need to give yourself some space and time for yourself. Oh and lets not overlook the sleep you will either have on the table or when you get home, and we all know how wonderful sleep is.
I am happy to answer any queries so feel free to get in touch via email, Facebook, phone (all contact details on our website and Facebook pages).
