Childbirth is physically and emotionally demanding on a woman’s mind and body. It is essential for a woman to take the time to rest and recover after her labor. She will be transitioning through a time where her uterus is healing, her hormones are shifting, and she is becoming accustomed to her new role as a mother.
A postpartum massage is a wonderful way to ease the physical and emotional demands of labor, breastfeeding, and caring for a newborn. A postpartum massage specialist takes extra time to make a woman feel relaxed and comfortable by soothing her tired muscles and addressing her specific needs. When mom feels nurtured, rejuvenated, and revitalized everyone around her benefits!
Benefits of Postpartum Massage
•Relieves soreness and muscle tension from labor
•Provides deep relaxation
•Reduces weakness and fatigue
•Helps internal organs to resume proper placement
•Re-establishes pelvic structural integrity
•Helps to restore the uterus to its original state
•Relieves neck, shoulder, hand, and wrist pain from caring for a newborn
•Eases lower back and pelvic pain
•Supports healthy lactation
•Aids in the reduction of excess body fluids
•Increases blood circulation and stimulates the lymph system
•Reduces stress and anxiety
•Facilitates healing after a Cesarean birth
•Offers a natural way to soothe and nurture mothers as they adjust to shifting hormones and motherhood
•Reduces the occurrence of postpartum depression
•Enhances the attachment and bonding experience between mother and baby
•Helps in healing mastitis
•Increase milk production
•Relieves cramping
•Addresses Birth Trauma
What to expect from a postpartum session
During a postpartum massage session I spend extra time to discuss your birth story and to find out how you are healing and adjusting to caring for your newborn. I create a unique postpartum massage session to address your specific needs and offer any community resources that may be needed.
My revitalizing postnatal massage includes the use of heat, specific postpartum acupuncture and reflexology points, aromatherapy, and abdominal massage. This deeply relaxing and nurturing postpartum massage melts away muscle tension leaving you feeling more energized, balanced, and confident.
Indications for postpartum massage
Postpartum massage improves the physical and emotional health of a woman after childbirth and eases the transition from pregnancy to mothering your child. Below is a list of various discomforts some women experience after birth in which postpartum massage can help alleviate.
•Mastitis
•Reduced Milk Production
•Engorgement
•Cramping
•Birth Trauma
•Exhaustion
•Trouble Sleeping
•Baby Blues and Postpartum Depression
•Sore arms, wrists, shoulders from breastfeeding
•Muscle and ligament pain and tension from childbirth
•Cesarean scaring
•Hemorrhoids
When to receive postpartum massage?
For mothers who delivered vaginally, you are able to receive postpartum massage as soon after you deliver your baby, as you are comfortable. Most women receive a postpartum massage within the first week or two after delivery.
It is best to wait six weeks to receive a regular postpartum massage after a cesarean birth. I recommend that you receive a postpartum massage every 1-3 weeks for the first 12 weeks after delivery to aid in postpartum recovery and leave you with a sense of well-being.
Postpartum massage positioning
You can lie on your belly again! However, some women still may find it difficult to lay face down on the massage table due to the increased size of their breasts. In this case, I provide extra support cushioning under your chest to allow mothers to find lying face down to be a comfortable position to receive a postnatal massage.
If that’s not comfortable for you, I can also use a side-lying position with pillows, which is also great for those healing from a cesarean birth.
I recommend that you breastfeed or pump right before your massage to enhance your comfort and relaxation. If your newborn is fussy or would like to nurse while you are on the massage table, I can continue the massage in a side-lying position, allowing you to nurse or comfort your child.
Abdominal massage
After delivery a woman’s physical body goes through tremendous changes as it strives to achieve its pre-pregnancy state. The uterus shrinks back down, the digestive organs slide back into place, the bladder resumes proper position, and the pelvic floor heals from any strain from pushing. I use massage and heat treatments to this area designed to increase circulation and to aid in the proper realignment of the organs.
Cesarean scar healing
I use cross fiber friction massage to aid in healing of cesarean scar tissue. By breaking up the adhesion, I can create more movement and flexibility between the layers of muscle and surrounding tissue to increase mobility of the uterus and reduce sensitivity to the surrounding tissue. It is best to wait at least 6 weeks until the tissue is properly healed before deeper work can be performed.