Pregnancy Massage: Techniques & Benefits
From the second that your little pea is formed, your body undergoes significant changes, these changes are the common reason for all the “woes” you will experience throughout your nine-month journey. Here are some benefits to illustrate how effective pregnancy massage techniques will assist you through ought your pregnancy journey.
Massaging improves blood circulation, preventing and minimizing the risk of swelling or water retention.
A pregnant woman’s circulatory system takes a big toll. Your body produces 50% more blood volume, so your circulatory system is working twice as hard to circulate blood through it. Massage activates the nervous system, which in turn causes the blood to circulate more freely, enhanced circulation improves oxygen in the blood, heart and arteries and allows your blood to flow more freely, preventing and minimizing the risk of swelling or water retention. For your baby, massage during pregnancy increases systemic blood circulation, so oxygen and nutrients can reach the foetal cells, providing greater nourishment and a better health index for the growing baby. By stimulating and draining lymph, you will also experience an improvement in the feeling of fatigue and tiredness.
Gentle massage drainage techniques is ideal for relieving Oedema, by improving fluid moving through and out the body.
Swelling is a normal part of pregnancy that is caused by the additional blood volume. Normal swelling, which is also called Oedema, is experienced in the hands, face, legs, ankles, and feet. This extra retention of fluid is needed to soften the body, which enables it to expand as the baby develops. Swelling may be experienced at any point during pregnancy, but it tends to be noticed around the fifth month and can increase drastically in the third trimester. Factors that can increase Oedema are summertime heat, standing for long periods of time, long days of activity, diet low in potassium, high level of caffeine consumption and high level of sodium intake. To relieve Oedema, you must get fluid moving through and out the body, gentle pregnancy massage drainage techniques is ideal for this. A study published in the International Journal of Nursing Practice found that pregnant women, who were given 20min foot massages daily had significantly less Oedema than those who did not, giving you a spring back in your step!
To relieve high hormone stress, effective pregnancy massage is proven to boost our happy hormones, ‘endorphins”, which is the body’s built in pain relief and mood enhancers.
Your hormones are also in high gear, although these hormones are a necessity for a healthy pregnancy, they wreak havoc on your emotions and even your physical body. Effective pregnancy massage is proven to boost our happy hormones, ‘endorphins”, which is the body’s built in pain relief and mood enhancers. In terms of mood enhancing and aiding anxiety and depression, Dr Tiffany Field pioneered the way for pregnancy massage studies. She is a director of the Touch Medical Institute in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Miami, School of Medicine. She is a renowned expert in the field of pregnancy massage. In one of her studies, she carefully divided a group of expectant women into two test groups. One group had regular pregnancy massage therapy sessions prior to birth and the other not. She had carefully questioned the woman during the stages of their pregnancy to analyse their mental state.
She concluded that woman who went for regular pregnancy massage had decreased depression, anxiety, leg & back pain. She also concluded that their Cortisol levels were decreased. Cortisol is what we refer to as the stress hormone that is released in your body and aggravates things like depression and anxiety. Not only does Pregnancy Massage elevate endorphins but it also increases the release of serotonin, which aids in better sleep as well as increased release of Dopamine which is another “feel good” hormone. All in turn reducing your stress hormones.
Specialized pregnancy massage techniques can drastically reduce discomfort in hip & back pain, bringing you much needed relief.
The pregnancy hormone Relaxin is living up to its name. As this hormone is directly involved in relaxing your body’s ligaments. We know that many pregnant women experience hip & back pain in their second or third trimester. Hip & back pain is usually caused by the loosening of the ligaments (due to hormone Relaxin) holding together the sacroiliac joints in your hip and supporting your muscles in your back, which connect your spine to your pelvis. While this joint-and-ligament relaxation helps with the birthing process, it can cause pain in your hips, lower back, and legs as the weight of your uterus bears down on your newly mobile bones and joints. It can result in inflammation, misalignment or bones grinding against bones.
By using specialized pregnancy massage techniques, your skilled practitioner, can drastically reduce your discomfort in these areas, bringing you much needed relief! Expertise techniques performed by a qualified practitioner can even alleviate sciatic pain, which is common during pregnancy.
Specialized and safe massage techniques will help stretch and smooth rigid muscles in the lower spine.
As your beautiful bump grows, the lower spine will curve inward to support your baby’s weight and the top of your spine will curve slightly outward to support the growth of your breasts. This change in posture causes the muscles along your spine and particularly on the lower back to take strain. This strain induces lactic acid release which causes the muscles in your back to become rigid and stiff and is accompanied by pain. Massaging this area with specialized and pregnancy safe massage techniques will help to stretch and smooth the rigid muscles as well as improve lymphatics and circulation in order to help release the toxic build up, allowing for fresh oxygenated blood to fill the area and heal. Not to mention how amazing and pain free you feel after a good massage!
Regular pregnancy massage can help alleviate tension and stress in your back muscles which could lead to headaches.
Headaches may occur at any time of your pregnancy, but they tend to be most common during the 1st and 3rd trimesters. During the 1st trimester, your pregnant body experiences a surge of hormones and an immediate increase in blood volume, these two changes can cause more frequent headaches. Headaches may be further aggravated by stress, poor posture, or changes in your vision. Headaches during the 3rd trimester tend to be more related to poor posture and tension from carrying the extra weight. Regular pregnancy massage can help alleviate tension and stress in your back muscles which could offer instant relief after a pregnancy massage session.
For some pregnant women, massage can relieve nausea and heartburn.
It can improve the progression of labour.
Pregnancy massage may improve the progression of labour with better health outcomes for both the mother and her baby. More relaxed mothers tend to have a lower risk of interventions during labour and birth and has even been shown to reduce labour time and help you return to optimal health after birth.
Pregnancy massage improves relaxation & focus.
Lastly, pregnancy massage can provide an opportunity for women to completely stop what they are doing and focus on the pleasure of having someone else do something just for them. The ideal “me time”!
For a detailed introduction on what exactly pregnancy massage is, feel free to read Pregnancy Essentials The Lowdown on Pregnancy Massage.
