pregnancy massage part 2

If you’re here reading this, hopefully that means you found part one interesting.. I hope you find the second part as interesting. There are many things to consider around pregnancy, I also have good training and experience in supporting people who are planning to have children, if they have fertility issues or just want some holistic support while they are trying to get pregnant, I will follow this blog soon with some info on working in this area. Todays blog discusses the support required following miscarriage, during pregnancy, and following the birth…

When things go wrong
Being prepare to provide treatment following or even during a miscarriage is another important part of being a therapist for pregnant women. A therapist needs to have a good understanding of what the causes of miscarriage can be and what is going on physically and emotionally so that appropriate support can be provided, the aim here is to be sensitive to the emotional needs of the client and to
help them to raga in a natural balance within themselves to make this process as easy as it can be. Promotional materials should explain clearly that holistic therapies can be very safe and beneficial in all stages of pregnancy, there is a lot of fear and misunderstanding about holistic therapies, especially in the early stages of pregnancy, it is important to demonstrate in promotional materials that you have a good understanding of what the risks are, and what is appropriate to include in pregnancy massage at different stages of pregnancy.

Building a relationship with a support network
It is important in pregnancy to ensure you have support around you, and that this support works well together, the holistic therapists role in this area is to work alongside the NHS support that all mothers will have, this can be done by making contact with local maternity units and midwives, letting them know what you do and how you can help, and building a professional relationship with them. The gap needs to be bridged between western and eastern medicine in all areas and
pregnancy is a good place to start, making sure local midwives and doctors are aware of what you do and that you are well educated and can work safely in the field of pregnancy will mean that they build confidence in you. You should also be aware of the procedures and support available from the NHS so that your client feels you are working alongside them. I have note recently that when pregnant clients have mentioned that they are receiving massage treatments, their midwives are very positive and encouraging, and they also seemed surprised to find a therapist that is happy to provide treatments for pregnant women. This however not always the case, some medical professionals are more wary of holistic therapists, they may not be so encouraging about receiving holistic therapies during pregnancy, it is these cases where building a good relationship is important
so that they can have a better understanding of what you do and how you can help support the process and compliment western medicine. The aim here is obviously so that hopefully midwives and other NHS professionals will refer clients to you, there is an aspect of business and reputation building here but also hopefully it will lead to respected professionals encouraging women to seek out holistic support during pregnancy. It will also be very helpful to be aware of and build a relationship with other local pregnancy support so that you can make recommendations for your clients as holistic therapies will not meet all the
needs of a pregnant woman. For example, I work alongside an osteopath that I can refer clients to if my clients need more structural support than I can offer within the range of treatments I provide. I also have strong connections with a hypnotherapist who provides hypno-fertility and hypno-birthing and plans to eventually be a doula, I have referred several clients to her for hypno-birthing which they use alongside holistic therapies, sometimes even to the point where they listen to the mp3 while receiving reflexology or acupuncture, this seems to have very beneficial effects in relaxation and preparation for birth. The hypnotherapist works with the mother and birth partner and I encourage this as a way of including the partner in the process. We have also discussed a combination treatment where holistic therapies are being provided during a hypnotherapy session which seems like a popular idea when I discussed it with my clients, although cost may be an issue. One of my colleagues (a registered osteopath) is also training to be a yoga instructor and intends to focus on fertility and maternity yoga which will be a very useful service for future clients, many women have commented that there is a lack of such services in the area. In the future it would also be helpful to make contact with a local nutritionist or gain some training in this area, nutritional support is a very important consideration in pregnancy. One of my case studies has been struggling to keep food down, even now when the nausea has subsided, the midwife has given her a lecture about making sure she gets the calories in, but she doesn’t want to do this in a way that gives the baby bad nutrition all the time, nutritional support and advice would be very helpful here. I am not qualified to assist too much in this area, although I did feel comfortable suggesting smoothies made with fruit, veg (especially avocado and spinach) and coconut milk to get the good fats and nutrients in, in a way that means she can sip through the day, this has worked well for her.

Family support
Of course as a holistic therapist, the family support should also be a large part of your focus. Usually this will be the father but not always, there will be families with all sorts of dynamics, either way they should be considered in the treatment plan. In the initial consultation the woman should be asked about the support they have at home and this should be recorded for future reference. While 3 of my case studies have good support from their husbands at home, the fourth was feeling a
little isolated, due to unfortunate timing, her husband who has been out of work for a while, managed to land a contract within a few weeks of finding out that she was pregnant, this contract is in surrey and they currently live in Manchester, she can’t leave her job as then she wouldn’t get maternity leave. This leaves them in the situation where he is working away a lot of the time and they only see each other on weekends. It is difficult for both partners, so while when we can we will
include an appointment where I talk him through massage techniques to use at home and during labour so that he can feel included in the process, we also had a session with her parents during the case study so that someone near to home can offer practical support when needed. Even if the partner is not so far away, as in in the case of fertility, many people feel that the father has a very limited role, this is sad as surely his role is to support the mother both emotionally and physically as much as he can, sharing the journey with her at every opportunity. As a therapist you should be aware of this and look out for signs that the partner is feeling disconnected, this may come across as the woman feeling her partner is a bit useless and uninterested, often this means that the partner is insecure and not sure how to get involved. With some encouragement, the partner can be involved in the holistic process, thinking about nutrition, massage at home, joining in
on visualisation techniques and meditations, this can all help to strengthen the bond and make the partner feel in tune with what is going on. This doesn’t have to end with the partner, older children in the family and others within the support network could be included if the wish. It may be a useful idea to produce a leaflet detailing these ways in which home support, and support during labour can be provided in a holistic way, this will help as a reminder for partners who have attended a joint session and for those who are unable to attend. It is also important to think about the stress and anxiety that the partner may be feeling, make sure it is clear that they too can receive holistic therapy to keep them relaxed and balanced at this time. An ideal example of partner support during labour is the hypnotherapist I work alongside, her husband came in to learn how massage her and learned the relaxation techniques so that she could have hypnotherapy and massage as she herself would provide to a client, during her own labour.

After pregnancy
Whilst a natural process, labour is a huge stress on the body, even if there are no complications. Add in to that having a new baby will be a strain on both parents, the physical and emotional stress of labour, the sleepless nights to follow, dealing with breast feeding and the difficulties that this may bring for some mothers…. I feel in our culture this is something we get very wrong on the whole, as long as there are no issues, the family go home with the baby, dad has a little time off, usually there are lots of visitors then they are left to fend for themselves. If you look at more eastern cultures, India and Pakistan for example, there is more a tradition of a specific healing diet, family all chipping in with cooking and housework, and massage very regularly for mum and baby.

Obviously each family, as with each culture, will do things slightly differently. Advice can be given in terms of taking those last few weeks to batch cook good healthy meals and freeze them for easy preparation after the baby arrives, if people offer help, take it. A family member had a baby just as I was beginning my case studies, while unfortunately she had the baby too soon to be a case study, her experience is a good example to draw on here, after she arrived home with her lovely baby boy, she did of course have the usual string of visitors, and she had no hesitation in delegating jobs to us all, make cups of tea, do a load of laundry, run the hoover around rather than just sit and provide company, she did very little for the first week other than focus on her boy. This kind of attitude should be encouraged, but this cannot always be achieved. A visit to the holistic therapist may be a welcome break from the all that is going on for any mum, especially if she got used to having holistic therapies in the build up to birth. Massage and other relaxing treatments are to be encouraged to help rebalance the body, recover from birth and help to reduce stress and anxiety. It is worth reassuring clients that they are welcome to bring the baby along when they come for a treatment, there is no need to anxiously wrench themselves away or struggle for childcare. Treatments can be provided with the baby in a carrier or on pillows on the mat next to the mother while they relax, many mothers will try to time a feed just before treatment, time should be allowed for this when booking the client in, but if they do not manage to do this, a treatment can be carried out whilst the mother is feeding the baby, it can be a very relaxing experience. Early on in my training I was providing a Thai massage for a client whilst a friend was in the room taking care of the baby, we were nearing the end of the treatment, everyone’s favourite part, gently releasing the neck and scalp massage, when she woke up and needed feeding, the mother groaned and said I’m not ready to finish this yet, I’m too relaxed! So we decided to try and found she could quite comfortably feed the baby while I continued my work, I noticed that once she settled in to this she was much more relaxed than before and I was able to release her neck more effectively, and she said it was the quickest she had ever known her daughter settle in to a feed.
At this stage it is still important to remember the other half of the parenting team, usually trying their best to stay afloat and get things sorted, it is worth offering treatments to both parents while they are adjusting to life with their new arrival.
Having contacts in your work network who can provide baby massage lessons and cranio-sacral therapy will be very beneficial to your clients at this time.

In conclusion…
Truly becoming a holistic therapist for pregnancy involves supporting the parenting team through the whole journey. I have found the studies involved to be enlightening and they have enriched my treatments in ways I did not expect and I really look forward to beginning my work in this area. It may sound a little cheesy but I feel honoured to be able to support people in this way, it feels like I share in the experience a little each time.