In my early adulthood when I still adventurous and much more obsessed with traveling, I visited the subcontinent region which now comprises of India and Pakistan. There, I noticed that the trend of massage therapy was prevalent in many ways but the most interesting thing that I observed was the ritualistic massage therapy of pregnant ladies. Don’t get me wrong, but people of third world countries are prone to receiving a not-very-suitable medical treatment. I also observed that the therapists who were giving massages were not licensed at all, but their skill indeed was matchless (thanks to years & years of experience!) The mother in law would usually send for the therapist who would provide the services for the pregnant daughter-in-law. As much as it helped her with alleviating the symptoms of pregnancy, it was obvious that the beloved unborn child of the family was a primary concern for the mother’s in-laws. And therefore it is safe to assume that the massage therapy was not only good for the baby but it was also highly beneficial. Now researchers have been conducted and it is proven medically that massage can be very helpful in maintaining a baby’s health. Many women wonder if getting a massage is a right choice or not, IT DEFINITELY IS! So let’s talk a little about prenatal massage.
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Prenatal Massage
We all know that bodies of women change a great deal when they undergo pregnancy. With all the rapid changes that are going on, it can get really uncomfortable for women to get adjusted to their new bodies. But like every other pain, there is a remedy for this problem as well. You can have someone give you a message to relieve the ache and pain. It is imperative to keep in mind that massage is very good for health at the stages of pregnancy; during pregnancy, at birth and postpartum, therefore you should always keep it in mind as an option. If you want to feel more grounded emotionally, you should opt for a message. It will also make you feel more pampered. But the benefits of massage do not end there; it aids your bodies in several ways. Read this post here. While the aim of a prenatal massage is to release the prenatal stress that a person is feeling, it also helps prepare your muscles for the process of childbirth. During each trimester, the massage serves in various ways:
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First Trimester
During the first trimester, the message can
- Help to deal with morning sickness.
- Help disperse the lactic acid knots in the body and it carries the waste out of the body.
- Relieve a headache and other body pains.
- Keep your relaxed and combats the stress.
- Help with reducing the fatigue.
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Second Trimester
During the second trimester the message
- Relieves the raging leg cramps
- Provides with a nurturing touch that can soothe away all your worries and heal the emotional and physical tension
- Improves the blood and lymph circulation through the body.
- Minimizes the stress and tension on joints that bear stress.
- Reduces the stress on the nervous system to a great degree, which includes the sciatic nerve.
- Alleviates a backache.
- Keeps the heart healthy and your blood pressure steady.
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Third Trimester
During the third trimester, massage
- Reduces the swelling on the body.
- Helps eliminate the stress – aids with the sleep.
- Can make the varicosities pain get vanished.
- Eliminates the round ligament pain.
- Prepares the body for birth – the body can be tense especially the pelvic region pre-birth. Massage helps with that issue.
- It stimulates the glandular secretions, which can help with relieving the depression and anxiety.
- It makes the hormones more stable.
- Increases the chances of carrying the baby to term.
Massage has numerous benefits and one of them during pregnancy is that it keeps your lymphatic system in check. Therefore, it also helps with removing the excess toxins and it also stabilizes the hormone levels. Since massage provides with the muscle of lymph and blood, it assists with regulating the circulatory system. This process fetches the nutrients for both mother’s and baby’s cells.
Now let’s talk a little about postpartum massage.
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Postpartum Massage
Just like prenatal massage, it is super beneficial to provide massage post birth as well. It doe does not matter if the process of childbirth was difficult or smooth; you are always encouraged to get a postpartum body massage. It is suggested because, despite a smooth delivery, the female body needs some realignment to go back into the routine. Massage can help a woman go through all these transitional phases quite smoothly. It helps with restoring the muscles of your body and in specific the abdomen, and it also helps reposition the pelvis.
The benefits of postpartum massage include:
- Relieving tension of child-birth process.
- Clearing out the excess fluids from the body quicker.
- Speeding up the recovery process.
- Encouraging pelvic and abdominal organs to return to their original positions that they were in prior to pregnancy.
- Promoting shift-return to digestive functions.
- Increasing energy levels and reducing fatigue and exhaustion.
- Aiding in returning the uterus to its normal size.
- Checking for diastasis recti.
- Decreasing muscle tension from the exertion of labor.
- Providing emotional support.
- Addressing scar healing protocol after c-section.
- Relieving shoulder, neck and arm tension after breastfeeding.
Postpartum case plays a major role in the healthy recovery of women from the process of bearing a child. It is slightly saddening that people tend to overlook procedures such as these which can make the child-bearing process much more rewarding and painless for women. But we hope that women are now educating themselves on the topic and they are learning how they can take better care of themselves. This aim of this post was to highlight the importance and advantages of the prenatal and postpartum massage and encourage women to get pregnancy massage more often.
Author bio:
Sara is a psychologist by profession and she loves massage therapies. She enjoys home-based work and traveling. She is obsessed with massage chair therapies and other relaxing techniques. She regularly blogs at Mymassagechairs
