Pre natal massage

[lois r]

I do a fair amount of pre natal massages. I was taught from another MT. We use a pre natal table with abd. panel which can be removed so client can lay prone with abd. support. All the info I see on internet says pg. clients should not lay prone because it pulls on uterine ligaments, causes pressure of amneo. fluid on baby, etc. If that's the case, why are pre natal tables even being manufactured? Does anyone have any info. that supports prone positioning for pregnancy? Thank You! ???

 

[-whateva]

Pre natal massage

I have heard the same pros and cons of the pre-natal table. I could not find any info on google or past massage therapy magazines. I work with somebody who is a certified in preganancy massage. I will ask her if she has any further info.

 

[stacie]

I am a certified pre/peri natal massage therapist.  When a client can not comfortably lay on her abdomen (prone position) any more - due to pregnancy - they are given massage in a side laying position.  Side laying on the left side helps blood flow - this is where you want to do majority (about 40mins. of the massage) of the time of massage.  If client has high blood pressure - then you want to do most of the massage while she's lying on her left side.  To do this - support the head with a few pillows, a body pillow for client to hug and wrap her top leg over, then additional pillows to put under ankles or additional under knees - to help keep hips, knee, and ankles in aligment.  It really is comfortable for the mommy's to be.  They don't want to move!  Any more questions - feel free to email.

 

[Candleguy:]

Pre natal massage

While working at a Massage School we received training about the position of a pregnant women while using the Body Support System. I just looked at their web site and here is what they say:

Since the inception of the bodyCushion pregnant women have reported relief from the pain of back strain and pelvic pressure when lying face down on the bodyCushion. Due to this possible application for pregnancy the bodyCushion has become closely associated with pregnancy and is widely known and used as a pregnancy positioner. Although pregnant women have reported relief, there is a belief among some in the field of obstetrics, gynecology and massage that a pregnant woman should not be face down under any circumstances, particularly in the later seforum.xxxes of pregnancy. Even though the bodyCushion supports the body on its bony frame and hammocks the uterus it is felt there may be a risk, if even slight, of increasing the uterine pressure or stretching the uterine ligaments of the pregnant woman. Because of this Body Support Systems’ policy is to recommend positioning the pregnant client or patient in the left lateral, side lying position on the bodyCushion. The current guidelines of obstetrics and gynecology no longer recommend positioning the pregnant client or patient face up, therefore we no longer recommend face up positioning on the bodyCushion. To practice the credo, “do no harm”, and stay on the side of safety, we recommend positioning the pregnant woman in the left side-lying position.

Tom Owens, LMT, President, Body Support Systems, Inc.
http://www.bodysupport.com

 

[Justxme]

Pre natal massage

Thanks to all of you for your replies. I have read extensively on this and all literature says what you have all stated. For client's safty, women should be massaged in side lying position. So why are companies manufacturing pre natal tables? I am posing that question to all companies. I'll let you know how they dance around that question.

 

[WinonaGal]

Hi,While working at the spa, we gave pregnancy massages using the pregnancy tables and never had a problem.  The belly/breast holes are lined with straps that are criss-crossed and very supportive for the bellies, but not at all constricting.  If the client wasn't large enough to fill the hole comfortably, I would simply line the opening with towels to her comfort level.The women loved it because it was the only time they could lay on their bellies.Just my experience...Namaste,Carole

 

[~abby~]

Pre natal massage

Thanks all. Carol, All my women love the maternity table, BUT if all liturature says those tables are not the best position for pregnant woman to be in, and could harm baby/mom, then should we be doing it in this position? ???

 

[sambaxter2007]

I have a question about pregnancy massage. My associate therapist said you are not suppost to massage pregnant women during the 1st trimester. We went to the same school and I do not ever remember being taught this. I know the contraindications for preg. massage. I do not remember 1st trimester being one of them. Obviously, there are going to be some pregnant women you should not work on, but could someone clarify this for me. I was taught as long as the women is not considered high risk, doing a general massage is not going to hurt her or the baby.

 

[Midnight River]

Sandy,
I stand with you on that one. I had my baby 2 years ago, and my OB/GYN was a great source of encouragement for me to practice yoga and get regular massage ALL through my pregnancy. I would often chat with him briefly from a therapist's point of view too. He was of the mindset that if there were no special or watch guard circumstances, that massage was a perfect way to relax and increase body awareness & acceptance through the changes of pregnancy. I tell my clients that prenatal massage is appropriate in every trimester unless there are special conditions that warrant caution. Sometimes even in those instances, massage can be appropriate... I just prefer to have their doc's agreement.

About those body cushion systems, etc. When we talk about them, we think about supporting the outer boundaries of the body. The small risks/harms would be to the inner workings. There's no way we could support them as a therapist. A client who is in great shape & exercises all through the pregnancy would even let go of muscular support when relaxing fully on a body cushion in prone positioning. That's just MY $.02.

I have one regular client right now who sees me every 3 or 4 weeks during her pregnancy. We do side lying, but also supine: I tilt my table back up & use my thigh/knee/calf wedge to put her in a "lounging" like position. we add one small pillow under the hip of her choice if she feels like she has to change it up a bit. I only work the feet & lower legs in this manner (sometimes face & scalp too), so its a brief part of her therapy. She had always been a deep, deep tissue client. I now use massage cupping to achieve the same results. She loves it!

Jill/sagetherapist

 

[Paul P]

Sandy,

I only work on pregnant women who are in their first trimester if I have a comfortable, trusting relationship with them. While massage cannot harm a woman or a baby in a "normal" pregnancy, the first trimester is when most losses take place. To a hormonal woman who has just dealt with a miscarriage, the massage may be to blame even if it is not the case. To protect myself, I don't usually work on new clients who are in the beginning seforum.xxxes of pregnancy.

That said, I received massage weekly during my last pregnancy from the get-go. However, I was an existing client who had a trusting relationship with my mt.

Jen

 

[relswete]

I'm with mamajen on the 1st trimester - massage is contra-indicated more for the therapists benefit than client safety. I won't take on a new client in the first trimester, but have worked on existing clients. SO many women don't realise they are pregnant until 6-8 weeks, it's usually only a couple more after they ask for a massage that they have to wait out the 1st trimester anyway.

I do have on my intake form "are you pregnant or trying to get pregnant?" because I use essential oils, and they can cause problems.

As for the prenatal tables, I don't agree with them, I think the tables DO add strain to the uterine ligaments, and I have had comments from clients tell me how uncomfortable they have been when they'd had a massage on a prenatal table before they found me.
I do use the bodyCushion - it's positioning is sort of half way between being on all fours and flat on a prenatal table. It seems to be comfortable for almost everyone (I've only had 2 people ask to go side lying in the 7yrs I've used the bodyCushion, and only mothers carrying twins I've gone "oooh, won't fit, gotta go side lying"). BodySupport for a while changed their suggested face down positioning to not recommended, because they felt it was better to err on the side of "do no harm", but with more research, they have since decided it is OK. No-one mentions concerns about uterine ligament strain during all those back stretches recommended on all fours, or digging out things in the field, it's not like the belly has never been lower then the backbone, but I do think having the legs and torso in one straight line and the belly below, as you do with a pre-natal table, is not a natural position, and can cause strain.

 

[Courtney M.P.]

I have one regular client right now who sees me every 3 or 4 weeks during her pregnancy. We do side lying, but also supine: I tilt my table back up & use my thigh/knee/calf wedge to put her in a "lounging" like position. we add one small pillow under the hip of her choice if she feels like she has to change it up a bit. I only work the feet & lower legs in this manner (sometimes face & scalp too), so its a brief part of her therapy. She had always been a deep, deep tissue client. I now use massage cupping to achieve the same results. She loves it!

Jill/sagetherapist

I just finished talking a class on cupping massage and we were taught that it was contraindicated during pregnancy. Is this true?? I can email questions to the instructor and I've sent one to her asking about why the cupping is contraindicated during pregnancy but I thought you might be able to shed more light on this for me.

Thanks!

 

[ying ting]

moogie,
I only cup the errector spinae & some trap/shoulder areas & her forearms. I strictly stay away from the low back. Cupping is very safe, except in some very specific circumstances. But please, defer to your mentors & teachers. Never do anything that some wierdo writes on a forum. ha ha That is just a joke there. I do cupping massage & I control the amount of "pull" the suction cups create. It can be very mild or very aggressive; whichever is appropriate.

Jill/Sagetherapist

 

[WOAH its me!]

you do not want to use the cut out table. Sidelying is the best for both mother and baby. Even with the tables "support" it still puts unwanted pressure on the low back, the baby and the uterus.

 

[Other Girl]

I can speak from experience because I am a MT and I just had a baby 5 months ago. One thing I learned is that you should do whatever is comfortable for the client. I myself found the prego pillow very uncomfortable. I thought it would be cool to be able to lay face down, but the weight of my baby pulled on my stomach which was not comfortable and also, you cant put good pressure on the back in those things, its not safe. Even though side laying is cumbersome for the therapist, it seemed to be the best way for me. I give my clients many different ways to lay with lots of different pillows and then I tell them to choose how they want to lay. Oh yeah, and rub the girls feet please! They need it and you will not send them into labor with a basic foot massage. That drove me crazy when I was pregnant and receiving massage and MTs were scared to rub my feet. Believe me, you wood have to be some kind of reflexology master to induce labor by rubbing someones ankles!

 

[Eliza The Animal Lover!!]

Pre natal massage

While working at a Massage School we received training about the position of a pregnant women while using the Body Support System. I just looked at their web site and here is what they say:

Since the inception of the bodyCushion pregnant women have reported relief from the pain of back strain and pelvic pressure when lying face down on the bodyCushion. Due to this possible application for pregnancy the bodyCushion has become closely associated with pregnancy and is widely known and used as a pregnancy positioner. Although pregnant women have reported relief, there is a belief among some in the field of obstetrics, gynecology and massage that a pregnant woman should not be face down under any circumstances, particularly in the later seforum.xxxes of pregnancy. Even though the bodyCushion supports the body on its bony frame and hammocks the uterus it is felt there may be a risk, if even slight, of increasing the uterine pressure or stretching the uterine ligaments of the pregnant woman. Because of this Body Support Systems’ policy is to recommend positioning the pregnant client or patient in the left lateral, side lying position on the bodyCushion. The current guidelines of obstetrics and gynecology no longer recommend positioning the pregnant client or patient face up, therefore we no longer recommend face up positioning on the bodyCushion. To practice the credo, “do no harm”, and stay on the side of safety, we recommend positioning the pregnant woman in the left side-lying position.

Tom Owens, LMT, President, Body Support Systems, Inc.
http://www.bodysupport.com

i guess they have changed their tune since then. I just went to the website and they have a picture of a pregnant woman lying face down:

http://bodysupport.com/Pregnancy.html

 

[cool_is_sexy]

yes, Body Support have changed their tune - see my post 15 Sep 2005 where I mention they'd gone back to their original recommendations of allowing face down. There was a HUGE hooha a few years ago that any position face down was too much strain on the uterine ligaments, Body Support adjusted their recommendations while the hooha was going on and then decided it was ok all along and went back to their original recommendations.
I think it was good of them to change to no face down while all the 'new research' was coming out about uterine ligament strain, but it looked like most of the 'new research' was primarily coming from instructors that wanted you to to do their side lying courses, and they were referring to pregnancy tables with the belly cut out rather than the bodyCushion, Body Support decided it didn't really apply and went back to suggesting face down.
On the otherhand, I don't know of any pregnancy massage table manufacturers that have taken into consideration uterine ligament strain, so they've not changed their tune at all. (If any pregnancy massage table manufacturers HAVE changed their design due to uterine ligament strain I'd love to know). They may say the belly is supported by straps or whatever, but I've lain over one of those holes, not pregnant and felt the strain on my back.