Mom - To - Be Massage

Initial Visit 120 min - $188.00
Includes 30 min consult + 90 min massage
90 min $139
120 min $179

Encourage relaxation and reduce anxiety  |  Help alleviate muscle and joint pain  |  Improve breathing, digestion and sleep  |  Improve mom and baby’s health by reducing the negative impacts of stress such as gestational hypertension, prematurity and low birth weight  |  Help mom feel more at ease and in touch with herself and baby  
|  Contribute to easier, shorter labors

Expecting a baby is usually joyful, but- to be honest- it is also stressful and can be uncomfortable. Prenatal massage therapy uses techniques designed specifically to address pregnancy’s challenges. 

Profound local and systemic changes in a woman’s physiology occur as a result of conception and the process of labor. Changes during pregnancy span the psychological, physiological, spiritual, and social realms.

A typical session performed by a therapist specializing in pre and perinatal massage therapy, can address pregnancy’s various physical challenges: edema, postural changes, and pain in the lower back, pelvis, or hips. Swedish massage may facilitate gestation by supporting cardiac function, placental and mammary development, and increasing cellular respiration. It also reduces edema and contributes to sympathetic nervous system sedation. Deep tissue, trigger point, and both active and passive movements alleviate stress on weight-bearing joints and myofascial structures, especially the sacroiliac and lumbosacral joints, lumbar spine, hips, and pelvic musculature. Structural balancing and postural reeducation reduce neck and back pain caused by improper posture and strain to the uterine ligaments.

According to Carole Osborne “Beyond these physical effects, an effective prenatal massage therapy session provides emotional support”.  In the safe care of a focused, nurturing therapist, many women unburden their worries, fears, and other anxieties about childbearing.  She believes that bodywork helps the mother-to-be develop the sensory awareness necessary to birth more comfortably and actively.

THE POSTPARTUM PERIOD

Beginning with the baby’s birth, a new mother must cope with more changes. She is typically only 10 to 12 pounds lighter, yet she is still maintaining her body with an anterior weight load posture. The massage practitioner can facilitate proprioceptive reprogramming to gently return the body to its pre-pregnancy state, to alleviate pain, and to bring about a renewed sense of body and self.

With focus on re positioning the pelvis and re patterning overall body use, postpartum massage sessions can restore functional muscle use in the lumbar spine area, as well as strengthen and increase tonus in the abdominal musculature stretched and separated by pregnancy.  Additionally, the overtaxed, hypo toned iliopsoas muscle functions can be improved. Upper back muscles which now support larger breasts and the carried infant’s weight need work to reduce strain, and to help maintain flexibility despite the physical stresses of infant feeding and care.  For post-Cesarean mothers, specific therapeutic techniques also can reduce scar tissue formation and facilitate the healing of the incision and related soft tissue areas, as well as support the somato-emotional integration of her childbearing experience.

After giving birth, massage therapy can help abdominal recovery; reduce the strain of baby care on mom’s body; support satisfying breastfeeding; and nurture mom and her family. Moms who are massaged tend to more quickly and fully touch their babies in loving, nurturing ways, and that leads to a more peaceful world for us all.