Pregnant? Massage helps ease those aches, pains

If you have just found out you are pregnant, congratulations!

I want to assure you that massage is safe at any point during a healthy pregnancy. I know that finding a massage therapist that will massage pregnant people – especially in the first trimester -- can be challenging.

But here’s the thing: pregnant people have been safely receiving massage in the first trimester, often before they even know they are pregnant, for years and years. In the hands of an experienced massage therapist with extra training in prenatal massage, it is doubly safe. Having taken and taught several prenatal classes, I’m more than happy to help during your entire pregnancy.

So how can massage help during your pregnancy:

● Decrease stress and anxiety

● Improve your sleep

● Help regulate hormones

● Reduce tension and pain in muscles

● Reduce swelling

● Improve nerve pain

● Increase your cardiovascular health

Unless your medical provider says otherwise, if you can exercise, have sex, and do most normal activities, there is no reason to think massage is unsafe. (And there is no science to support that it is unsafe.) Massage during your first trimester (and the following trimesters) would focus on stress-reduction and stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system.

Massage may change throughout your pregnancy: pressure, positioning, and areas we focus on will shift as your body changes. Your prenatal massage sessions will grow with you!