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Your pregnant, congratulations! Your feet ache, your ankles are swelling, you can’t sleep, and you have to pee a lot. Want a natural alternative that is safe for mom and baby and can help you deal with all the not so fun aspects of being pregnant? Sounds like you need a prenatal massage. Prenatal massage is massage therapy that is performed on women who are pregnant.
According to the American Pregnancy Association, studies show that massage therapy during pregnancy can reduce anxiety, decrease symptoms of depression, relieve muscle aches and joint pains, and improve labor outcomes and newborn health. Massage can be done during all 3 trimesters of pregnancy. However, it is important to get the okay from your OB-GYN or Midwife before receiving prenatal massage. Prenatal massage can help relieve common pregnancy aches and pains, some of the benefits of prenatal massage include:
• Reduced pressure on legs and feet • Stimulate blood flow and improved circulation throughout the body which helps reduce swelling in muscle groups • Help to relieve and reduce back pain and sciatic pain • Reduced joint pain • Reduced muscle tension • Relieve stress and anxiety • Better sleep • Reduce edema • Help relieve headaches
Many pregnant women have heard about the fancy massage therapy tables with a hole in the middle of your ever-expanding belly, they think it sounds great being able to lie face down. In theory, it sounds like a good idea, but in practice, it can be more strenuous on the body and not so great for your baby. In fact, the American Pregnancy Association (APA) does not recommend tables with a hole cut out into which a woman’s uterus sits, noting that this position applies pressure to the abdomen. It also allows the abdomen to dangle, which stretches the uterine ligaments.
The other issue with the pre-cut holes is that they’re a one size fits all design, so finding a comfortable fit for women of many different sizes and stages during pregnancy can be difficult. Not to mention the weight of the uterus and abdomen can put stress on the spine and ligaments. This pressure can increase even more as the massage therapist presses down on the back while working. The goal of prenatal massage is to offer the mom to be relief from pregnancy-related discomfort, putting undue stress on the spine and ligaments does the opposite and can further compound discomfort and pain during pregnancy.
What do you do if you don’t use the table with the hole in it? Here at Brilliant Bodywork, we offer a prenatal massage in the side-lying position. For the side-lying position we use between 4-8 pillows to help prop up the body and tummy and then the massage therapist works on the body that way. We do take into consideration where you are in your pregnancy if you’re still in the first trimester and comfortable lying on your front and back as normal then we will move forward with the massage as usual. However, some women have a lot of breast/chest tenderness in the first trimester and it may not be comfortable for them to lie on their stomach. We like to look at the needs of the individual and choose how to proceed based on their specific needs and concerns. Prenatal massage is a great way to help relieve emotional and physical stress and tension during pregnancy, if you’d like to learn more about prenatal massage at Brilliant Bodywork please check out our website here- http://brilliantbodywork.com/massage/types-of-massages
Sources- http://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancy-health/prenatal-massage/ https://www.massagemag.com/pregnancy-massage-tables-think-before-you-buy-13458/ https://www.parents.com/pregnancy/my-body/pampering/prenatal-massage/