Is Prenatal Massage Safe

» left by Anonymous 1 year 348 days ago.

There is so much more to prenatal massage. If a client has not had massage prior to the first trimester then it is contraindicated. 1 out of every 4 pregnancies result in a live birth. So why would you stir up body systems that could potentially be negative at such a crucial time.

If a woman has had a high risk pregnancy, a miscarriage or is having multiples this is a contraindication.

In the second trimester you have to be very careful and on the lookout for deep vein thrombosis. Which is blood clots in the legs that could cause a myriad of bad things if put into the blood stream i.e. Stroke, aneurism or a heart attack.

You also need to be careful of the upper traps and the Achilles tendon area of a woman’s body as these are elimination points. If you over stimulate you can cause pre-term labor.

Then there is the little fact of elastin. It is produced so a woman’s bones and muscles can compensate for the changes ahead. You need to be very careful to not over do any stretching too. The tendons will easily overstretch and that takes a lot of therapy to correct.

I am so surprised that you take pregnancy massage so lightly. Seriously I think you need more education before you hurt someone.

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» left by Cathy Lafever 1 year 348 days ago.
4 fans.

This article was intended for the general public, not to use to teach in a classroom, however, I will address your comments.

 

 

A woman's body is designed to carry a pregnancy and still carry on most normal activities. Does a woman's doctor ask her to stop exercising as soon as she finds out she is pregnant? No. Does exercise stir up body systems and hormones? Yes. Just as her doctor would tell her to hold off on skiing, we would not go in and do a deep tissue massage at, yes, what is a crucial time. Miscarriages happen for many reasons and yes, you have to be careful not to put too much pressure on the low back or the fetus could separate from the uterine wall. As I said, a pregnant woman should see an educated therapist.

 

 

If a woman is high risk, which is not always true with a miscarriage or multiples, then I require a note from her doctor stating she can get a massage and any limitations we need to follow.

 

 

Yes, DVT is very serious and must be watched for, but if I am not mistaken, there are usually signs of that present? In the form of a very dark area on the skin, that doesn't resemble a bruise? If the client knows about this, she should inform me and we can still do some upper body work. If she doesn't know, I will point it out that she has an area she might want to have the doctor look at and maybe do some upper body work.

 

 

I am also a doula, a woman who goes with other women when they are in labor. I have had massage clients and doula clients who have been past their due date beg me to massage those points. In my six years, I haven't put one woman into labor with it. Not one. And these are women who are already dilated 1-3 cm.

 

 

I am very aware of what elastin is since my training required college level anatomy and physiology. I am not sure what stretches you feel you need to do for pregnant clients. With my 3 pregnancies, I wanted nothing to do with stretching and my clients don't get it either. Most of them come in for relief of headache pain and then when they are much further along, lower back pain. And since they are pregnant, I don't do any stretching for those issues.

 

 

I do not take prenatal massage lightly. I speak very thoroughly with my clients and get a good history before we even begin. The majority of the session is a general Swedish massage. If they are in their third trimester and having low back pain, I will use low heat and more pressure to help ease that pain. However, you won't find me putting her foot up next to her head to stretch out her lower back.

 

 

And each of my clients are informed if at any point they feel uncomfortable, or something feels different, to tell me right away.

 

 

I'm sorry, I didn't realize these articles needed to be textbooks to be published, I thought they were here to provide general information to the public. And the general public isn't going to understand half of this "conversation" we just had.

 

 

I do appreciate your concern, but I ask you to also appreciate mine.

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