Handoutmassage
Handoutmassage
Handoutmassage
The amazing
benefits of
massage
Massage Therapy has been a
recommended and highly effective
treatment for pregnancy, birth, and
the newborn period for thousands of
years. Care providers across the
world send referrals for pregnancy
pain relief, soft tissue tension that
can hinder childbirth, helping to turn
breech babies in utero, cesarean scar
massage work, premature baby
massage, labor inducing massage,
labor pain relief, and so many more
reasons.
PRENATAL MASSAGE
In one scientific study, pregnant
women who received just 20 mins of
professional prenatal massage care
each week for 5 weeks reported
decreased depression, anxiety, and
overall discomforts and pain. Cortisol
levels also decreased, and this
massage group had a lower number of
premature births (0% compared to
11% in control group). Massage
during pregnancy has been proven to
In Premature Infant
s
who received 15 min
s of
Massage, 3 times a
day
for 10 days:
47% more weight wa
s gained
Better Neonatal As
sessment
Scores than contro
l group
More Alert and Activ
e
Stayed 6 less days in
NICU
Higher testing scor
es through
12 months of age
[see research study lin
k
below]
brain
much quicker than birth pain
messages (unmyelinated neurons).
Whichever gets there quicker
closes the gate, allowing only the
first in!
For more information on these
research studies and about the
importance of infant massage:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pmc/articles/PMC2870995/
http://www.healthyfamily.org/
pub/article/2