Pregnancy Massage

As the name signifies, a pregnancy massage is meant for women who are on their way to becoming a mother.
A pregnancy massage requires high expertise as pressing a wrong nerve ending might lead to serious implications involving the mother and the unborn baby. When pregnant women get a pregnancy massage done, they are made to lie down in a very comfortable position as a wrong movement might pain them a lot. A pregnancy massage is carried out by the therapist with extremely gentle hands and the movements are equally delicate. This is done as there are a lot of physiological changes that take place in the circulatory system of a woman. These changes promote avoidance of deep massage movements as the labor might get hemorrhaged. Changes in the system also include an increase in coagulation. So to make sure there no complications develop, the massage strokes are kept highly delicate in a pregnancy massage.

There are a lot of things that need to be taken care of while giving a pregnancy massage. The therapist is usually aware that while a woman is pregnant, the chances of her developing a blood clot are very high, perhaps 6 times higher than she being not pregnant. Muscle spasms can also occur if the pregnancy massage is not kept gentle. During the pregnancy massage, the therapist will make sure that the legs of the lady are handled with care, especially veins such as the femoral, the saphenous and the iliac. The therapist will deliberately avoid deep massage rubs as well as profound vibration and friction as all of these could result in coronaries and strokes.

Massaging the back and the legs of a pregnant woman during a pregnancy massage are two big concerns. The back gets handled with an extremely soft fist and the knuckles of the therapist will run down the back starting from the spine and to the hips. Then the movement will be done in the reverse direction. The legs can be positioned in a side position and then need to be gently rubbed. Only the outer part has to be targeted with the strokes being gentle and the movement being circular. The bottom of the foot again needs to be handled with extra care.

The reason behind a pregnant woman getting a pregnancy massage is mostly because of the sore legs that she develops. The logic behind this is the increase of fluid inside her tissues which almost goes up by 40 per cent. Lymphatic drainage, which is a part of a pregnancy massage helps in draining that excessive fluid so that she remains in a calm state. The movement in this method starts from the knee, goes to the hip, comes back to the ankle and continues to the knee and the hip. The final touch is given to the feet. A good pregnancy massage therapist will always massage the feet even if there is no soreness as averting clots is the primary purpose. Lymph load needs to go down which will pave the way for respite and relief to come in. The motive is to make sure that the pregnancy is a healthy one.