While I was in school, I was so overwhelmed with all the information I was taking in, it was difficult to actually read my books. Confession: one of those books was my prenatal massage book. How can I possibly call myself a doula who offers prenatal massage without having read that book cover to cover? Well, I'm human...that's how. I took the training, listened to the lectures, but in the end we didn't really cover the book in class, mostly used handouts and demos, so there it sat. Once the class was over I quickly moved on to the next classes and crammed my brain with the goal of "just pass" (Which I did, with flying colors I might add). It was months before I was ready to pick up another book after school, let alone an educational book.
So I was doing some reading the other day on the changes the body goes through while you grow a human and even though I knew all of it, reading about the benefits of massage during each of those stages really spoke to me, even more than before!
Particularly interesting were the studies done with rats and monkeys. In one study a control group of rats were gently stroked while they were pregnant. Once they gave birth their babies opened their eyes sooner, were more active, developed motor-coordination earlier, and weighed more at weaning. They had stronger immune systems, were more curious, calmer, and my favorite, had superior mothering skills. The rats who did not receive the gentle strokes had more excitable babies, timid and fearful. They had more rage reactions and bit more often.
If gentle touch had that kind of effect on rats, think about what regular massage can do for the pregnant woman and her unborn baby!
There are more benefits, obviously, and I will be sharing more of them in the coming months in a series of blogs I'm working on so stay tuned! In the meantime, I decided to start offering a prenatal massage package. It's about so much more than pampering oneself; your baby will feel the effects, you will feel better, and your body will thank you.
Packages must be paid in full prior to scheduling. Contact me with any questions or for more information.