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Pregnancy is a time of changes, some eagerly embraced, and others less welcome. Your entire
body adapts to the new life growing within you. You also face important life changes at home or at work, with family or friends.
You need and deserve support, especially since two people now depend on your health and vitality.
Massage is a wonderful
way to relax, increase your energy, and relieve discomfort during your pregnancy. The caring touch of massage can also be
something special for you at a time when so much of your attention is on the baby to come.
COPING WITH STRESS
AND FATIGUE
Change, even welcome change, is stressful. The tension caused by stress, along with the physical
changes of pregnancy, can sap your energy for coping day-to-day. A soothing massage can relieve physical and emotional tension,
help you sleep better, and boost your energy.
Massage loosens tight muscles and calms the nervous system. It also
increases circulation, bringing energy-producing nutrients to your cells and carrying away metabolic waste products that can
make you feel listless. In a massage, you also become more aware of your body, which helps you recognize tension as it builds
during the day enabling you to consciously release it.
EASING ACHES AND PAINS
Massage can
help with many of the aches and pains you experience as your body changes during pregnancy. Massage can:
* Relieve
pain in your muscles and joints that must support extra weight;
* Increase flexibility, making it
easier for your body to adjust to additional weight;
* Ease constipation, gas and heartburn as general
relaxation stimulates intestinal movement;
* Reduce excess fluid retention by gently pushing fluid
into circulation where it can be eliminated;
* Slow the progress of varicose veins as enhanced circulation
lowers pressure on stressed veins;
YOUR COMFORT DURING A MASSAGE
You will
be comfortably supported with pillows, cushions or specially designed bolsters during your massage, and may even find yourself
lying face-down for the first time in a while. In later pregnancy you can get a complete massage comfortably supported in
a side-lying position if you prefer. If lying down is simply not comfortable, you can remain seated for a relaxing partial
massage.
Be sure to ask questions if you are unsure about anything, and tell your therapist if anything feels uncomfortable
or if there are areas you would rather not have massaged (for example, your abdomen).
PREPARING FOR LABOR
Massage can help you prepare for the birthing process in several ways. Regular massage to the lower back,
abdomen, and inner thighs can release chronic tension in these areas for minimal resistance during delivery. Massage also
increases your awareness of tension in your body and teaches you how to consciously release it, increasing your confidence
and control during labor. You can even prepare for labor by practicing focus, breathing and relaxation techniques while a
tender area is being massaged.
MASSAGE DURING LABOR
Massage is part of the birthing process
in virtually all tribal cultures of the world. It can help you relax between contractions, reduce pain from tight muscles,
and provide emotional support and encouragement. Because stress interferes with labor-inducing hormones, there is even evidence
that massage can promote a speedier birth.
POSTPARTUM MASSAGE
In the postpartum period, nature
sets about undoing in eight weeks what it took nine months to create. Though it may be difficult, it is as or more important
to take care of yourself now as during your pregnancy.
Massage can help you handle the physical demands of caring
for a newborn by reducing tension and increasing energy. If you are nursing, a relaxing massage can help since tension interferes
with milk letdown. Psychologically, massage can nurture and comfort you whether or not you are experiencing postpartum "blues".
When to schedule your first postpartum massage will depend on how your delivery went and what your health
care provider advises. Talk with your massage therapist about what is best for you. Ask about having your baby in the room
with you during your massage. This could also be the perfect opportunity to introduce your baby to infant massage.
Copyright by Heather Nicoll, Information for People, 1995
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