All about pregnancy and prenatal Massage

What is a pregnancy massage or prenatal massage?

Pregnancy massage or prenatal massage are generic terms used to describe a variety of conditions and treatments performed to help alleviate the signs and symptoms associated with pregnancy.

Conditions like: Sciatica, headaches, low back pain, swelling in the extremities, muscle tension and sleep disturbances can all be part of being pregnant. An RMT can work to address all these conditions.

Why use an RMT for pregnancy massage or prenatal massage?

A BC RMT has 3000 hours of training. They have specific training in the physiology and anatomy of pregnancy. There are specific techniques that are used for different stages of the pregnancy cycle.

The bigger question is, “What RMT is a specialist in pregnancy massage?” Technically, RMTs cannot say they specialize in any one treatment or technique. This is a regulatory requirement of our governing body, the CMTBC.  

To work with this regulation you will see RMTs use words like: “focus”, “area of treatment” or “training in”. To find an RMT that works best for you I suggest looking for a personal referral and research that RMT online.

Here are some questions I suggest asking:

1. Do you do pregnancy massage or prenatal massage?
2. Do you have body pillows, electric table, etc…?
3. Can I read more about you on the web?
4. How many pregnancy or prenatal treatments did you do last week?
5. Can I talk to any of the women you treated for pregnancy?
6. Are you a Dr. Voder licensed Manual Lymph drainage therapist? (These RMTs have post graduate training and should be used if you have swelling in the extremities)

The answers to these questions will give you enough information to make a decision.

What are the benefits of a pregnancy massage?

There are so many benefits to having a pregnancy massage. At no time in your life will you undergo so much change in your body over such a short period of time. Aches, pains and body changes can be greatly decreased when you consult an RMT.

Treatments that respond well to pregnancy massage are: Sciatica , headaches, muscle tension, swelling in the extremities and low back pain .

Clients report better sleep patterns and over all feeling of being relaxed and more connected to their body.

When receiving a pregnancy massage, how should I be positioned?

Positioning is the most important part of a treatment. You want to take in account how far along the pregnancy is, the further along it is the more you will need to look at supporting the body.

In general, sideline is best. This is because it allows the most amount of modification to the body position.

Resting on your stomach puts too much pressure on your abdomen and breasts. There are pregnancy tables that have a hole cut where the abdomen is and this is replaced with a stretchy fabric that makes a hammock for your growing belly to rest on.

There is some controversy about these tables because depending on the tension on the hammock it can lead to not enough support for your belly. This can put undue stress on your abdominal and pelvic ligaments. This can be very serious depending on how far you’re a long and if it has been a difficult pregnancy or not. I highly suggest consulting with your massage therapist to discuss this issue.

Resting on your back can position your uterus to put pressure on the returning veins from the lower extremity. This again needs to be discussed as your pregnancy progresses.

Precautions for pregnancy massage.

Make sure the RMT does a thorough history and assessment before the treatment begins. Clients tend to want to rush to the treatment and they sometime over look very serious contraindications for treatment. Please make sure to discuss everything about your pregnancy with your RMT.
 
Some precautions for pregnancy massage are: Diabetes, miscarriages and varicosities in the lower extremity.

 For more information go please see:

http://everesttherapeutics.com/downtown-vancouver/pregnancy-massage-vancouver/pregnancy-massage-and-prenatal-massage.html#precautionsforpregnancymassage.

Related Pregnancy Questions Articles

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Are you trying to get pregnant quickly? Do you Want to increase your chances? Click here for more information.

How will you know that you are pregnant? Below are some of the clues and pregnancy basics, so that you can know for sure that you are pregnant. However, please note that pregnancy differs from one woman to another. The symptoms may be less intense or more severe.

The pregnancy symptoms may occur for a short while or for a long time. They may happen often or they may be rare during the entire pregnancy period. Keeping this in mind, read these important pregnancy symptoms.

Symptoms Of Pregnancy

Missed Period: This is the most important symptom of pregnancy. If you miss your menstrual period, you can be reasonably sure that you are pregnant. However, some women may experience a lighter menstruation instead of none at all.

1. Intuition: Many women get a gut feeling when they are pregnant. This pregnancy symptom is important, as a womens intuition is usually right. You usually know that you are pregnant, when you are!

2. Tenderness Of Breasts: Breasts and even nipples become more sensitive during pregnancy. A feeling of soreness in the breasts persists. In addition, some women may find their nipples darkening.

3. Tiredness: Fatigue is also a pregnancy symptom. You find you feel like going to sleep earlier at night. You may sleep longer in the morning. A little exertion will tire you quickly.

4. More Visits To The Bathroom: Frequent urination is a pregnancy symptom. Though annoying, it might continue up till you deliver your baby. It happens because your swelling uterus puts pressure on your bladder.

5. Nausea And Vomiting: This pregnancy symptom may start within a week of your getting pregnant. Nausea is also known as Morning sickness. However, this sickness usually stops when you enter into the second stage of pregnancy.

6. Dizziness And/Or Fainting: After a little exertion, you feel dizzy or you might even faint. This happens because of low blood sugar. Your baby inside you needs nutrition, so you have to eat more.

7. Craving/Dislike For Food: You find that you start wanting to gorge on some foods. Alternatively, you might stop relishing some foods you liked earlier.

8. Sensitivity To Smells: You find your power of smell has increased. You can sniff out odors, not noticed by others. This happens because of the increasing estrogen in your body.

9. Heartburn or Constipation: Your growing uterus pushes against other body organs, including your stomach. As a result, digestion slows down.

10. Mood Swings: You become more irritable. All this is because pregnancy is changing hormones levels in you.

11. Low Back Pain: This is an important pregnancy symptom. The growing uterus changes your torso-legs balance, leading to low back pain.

12. Implantation Bleeding: You may bleed a little when the fertilized egg begins to implant or move into the uterus. This happens 3-6 days after fertilization. The bleeding is little with pink spots. This does not happen in each pregnancy case, hence it is not a reliable pregnancy symptom.

Please understand that knowing pregnancy symptoms is important to be well informed. To ensure that you are pregnant see your doctor.

Thereafter record your pregnancy week by week and maintain good pregnancy health. Only to know that you are pregnant is not enough. Once you are, you have to nurture your pregnancy to give birth to a healthy baby.