December 12, 2024

As some of you may know (if you don’t know, surprise!), my wife and I are expecting our first child in January 2024. I told my wife whenever she got pregnant, I would drop everything and begin studying advanced prenatal massage to add on the foundational knowledge I already had from massage school and a couple of continuing education courses. The past 6 months I studied the physiological changes in the pregnant woman, prenatal massage theory, pre and post natal considerations, corrective exercises, and prenatal kinesiology taping techniques. In addition to my study, it has been an amazing opportunity to work with someone weekly to experience every change week by week for every trimester. 

So what’s the difference between a prenatal massage and a regular massage? Not much really, a lot of things stay the same, however, prenatal massage focuses on what’s safe for the expecting mother and the fetus as they go along through their trimesters. For example, once the pregnant woman hits their 12th week, deep work on legs is contraindicated due to the increased fibrogenic activity that prepares them to heal after delivery. Manual lymphatic drainage is an appropriate massage modality to use on the lower extremities due to its light touch and helps with the swelling the woman may expect as they go along their second and third trimesters. 

If you’re interested in prenatal massage or any bodywork, you may book here: