Massage during pregnancy

For over 15 years I have specialized in pre and postnatal massage . While  pregnant not only is your body working over time to create life its also taking a beating from the extra weight of your growing belly/ baby. Over the 9 months of pregnancy as your baby grows inside of you, your ribs, hip bones and pelvis will begin to expand , your lower back and sacrum are working constantly  to help stabilize and hold you up from the weight of your belly pulling you forward . Legs and feet get extra sore and tend to swell from carrying the added weight ,fluid and blood flow . Many woman expreience upper back and neck pain from sleeping on their side or from the extra weight of the chest . A great pre natal massage can alleviate many of the aches and pains that often accompany pregnancy .

prenatal massage can also help :

Reduce anxiety and stress

Reduce water retention and swelling

Increase circulation and blood flow

Helps promote better sleep

Relieves sore muscles , back and joint pain  

Helps alleviate headaches  

Decreases depression 

Increases the ” FEEL GOOD” hormones Serotonin and Dopamine 

Help relieve constipation 

Decrease cortisol 

Detox your body of toxins 

Helps reduce and gets rid of leg cramps 

I don’t recommend getting massages during the first trimester ( because of increased chance of miscarriage) unless someone has been getting them regularly and then I suggest light massage until 1st trimester is over.

Make sure you go to someone who specializes in prenatal massage and knows what they are doing.  Always avoid the backs of ankles , heel and wrists as they are trigger points for labor . However I will say I have pushed on these areas  hard for hours with many clients over the years trying to induce labor for people that were past their due date and nothing at all happened , but its always good to be cautious.

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