5 Reasons to Add Massage to Your Prenatal Care
Although pregnancy can be viewed as one of the most beautiful times in someones’ life, there are some not so fun things that can go along with it. Having a good team on your side can be beneficial in helping you prepare for birth and keep you as comfortable as possible!
Here are some of the ways prenatal massage can help you through your pregnancy:
Discomfort: Pregnancy can bring upon unwanted aches and pains that may get in the way of your daily activities. The body goes through many anatomical changes and shifts as the baby grows during pregnancy and that can bring forth some low back pain, hip pain, pelvic pain and abdominal pain. Prenatal massage can decrease the tightness (tone) in those specific muscle groups that may be compensating for these anatomical shifts. It can allow the body to move more optimally which can in turn help keep you more mobile. We know that those who are able to continue being mobile can experience less pain through their pregnancy and are at decreased risk of labour and delivery complications.
Relaxation: Although many people experience pregnancy in different ways, it can be a time of uncertainty and stress for some. Massage has a variety of benefits but arguably one of its strongest is to decrease sympathetic nervous system firing. This means that massage can decrease those fight or flight signals in the brain that are existing with stress. Massage can decrease heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate, leaving you feeling more relaxed.
Preparing for vaginal delivery: Massage can decrease tone within the hip muscles such as the glutes, adductors, hip flexors and abdomen to facilitate a positive birth position. As massage therapists, we can also release some of the tension in the fascia surrounding the perineum by releasing fascia in the surrounding area (it’s all connected). This can lead to a less likelihood of tearing during delivery and encourage space for the baby to be delivered. We also can help your hip musculature be prepared for a more active birth allowing you to be more mobile, which can be beneficial for the delivery process.
Your baby belly: There are many things regarding the pregnant belly we can treat as prenatal massage therapists. Firstly, we can help manage diastasis recti by keeping the abdominal muscles (especially the obliques) lower in tone. By decreasing the tone in the obliques, we can decrease the likelihood of the rectus abdominis being abnormally tensioned. Round ligaments, which support the uterus, can cause pain in the lower belly. RMTs can work on decreasing pain in that area when they become overactive. Prenatal RMTs can also work on the diaphragm as well, which tends to become overactive due to the increased demand on the abdominal musculature and increased respiratory rate during pregnancy. Furthermore, the ribcage structure changes very early on in pregnancy, which can impact breathing. By working on this area, we can facilitate deeper breath and also less discomfort if your baby tends to be sitting up high.
Circulation: Massage promotes circulation by manually flushing fluid in and out of areas in your body. Some unwanted side effects of pregnancy can include swelling, especially in hands and feet. Massage can aid in the flushing of this fluid, providing temporary relief from pregnancy related carpal tunnel or foot pain caused by swelling.
