Massage therapy is gaining widespread acceptance as a part of integrated health care. It complements conventional medicine in stress reduction, muscle relaxation/restoration, and injury prevention. Studies have shown that it can reduce stress, relieve fatigue, stimulate the production of endorphins, facilitate relaxation, and promote a sense of well-being — all of which increase efficient body functioning.

Research shows that pharmacological pain relief interferes with the physiological processes of labor and birth and can lead to unnecessary obstetric interventions that adversely affect the initiation and duration of breastfeeding. New research is beginning to confirm that non-pharmacological coping strategies for labor and birth — such as massage, hypnosis, meditation, water therapy, labor/birth positions— provide exactly those benefits that traditional healers have known for ages.

Since you learned you were pregnant, how many times have you found your hands resting on your belly? Too many to count? Your instincts have already taught you that touch is one of the best ways for you to get to know and love your changing body and to bond with your soon-to-be baby. Soothing strokes flush the body with endorphins — hormones that not only make you feel good physically and emotionally but contribute to a calming in-utero environment. Several studies have shown that massage during pregnancy, labor, and the postpartum period:

• Reduces stress and promotes the parasympathetic (relaxation) response.
• Relieves muscle spasms, cramps, and pain, especially in the back, neck, hips, and legs.
• Increases the circulation of blood and lymph throughout the body, increasing cellular nutrition and reducing edema.
• Reduces strain on weight-bearing joints.
• Provides emotional support and physical nurturance.
• Develops the sensory awareness necessary to relax during first stage labor and to recruit appropriate muscles during the pushing phase.
• Improves labor outcomes (e.g. shorter births, lower rates of prematurity).
• Promotes postpartum restoration of abdominal muscles and weight-bearing muscles and joints used during pregnancy, labor, and delivery.
• Supports new mothers as they managed the physical and emotional challenges of mothering.

It is never too early or too late to begin massage! Whether your baby is a newborn or several years old, massage can bring immediate and lasting benefits. Evidence-based practice supports the use of infant massage. Several studies, most notably from the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine, reveal many of the benefits of infant massage. These include:

• Improves weight gain, particularly in pre-term infants
• Improves functioning of the circulatory, digestive, and respiratory systems
• Enhances immune system function
• Reduces levels of cortisol, the stress hormone
• Helps baby/child to sleep deeper and more soundly
• Promotes relaxation and helps babies self-regulate calm, which reduces crying
• Encourages pre-verbal communication between caregiver and infant
• Provides the essential elements of parent-infant bonding and attachment: eye-to-eye contact, touch, voice, smell, movement, and thermal regulation.
• Provides a positive way for fathers to interact with their infants/children
• Helps parents ease their stress if they are a working parent and must be separated from their children for extended periods during the day.