Prenatal Massage
Boise, ID
Improve your body’s health, comfort, and adaptability before and after birth
Prenatal Massage with Gwen
75 Minutes: $150
Prenatal Massage with Marisa
75 Minutes: $120
Integrative Prenatal Bodywork with John
75 Minutes: $120
Prenatal massage is amazing support for your body as it supports a growing life. It can help address the changes your body is going through and alleviate common pregnancy discomforts. Pillows and props are used to create comfortable positioning for your body. Prenatal massage is appropriate at any stage of pregnancy, as long as your primary care provider has not advised against it.
Trimester by Trimester
During your first trimester (up to 12 weeks), you can receive massage lying face down (prone), as well as on your back (supine), as long as you are comfortable. A support pillow can be used in the prone position if breasts are tender or enlarged and we can switch to a side-lying position if needed. In the second trimester, we will use the side-lying position, and you can continue to lie on your back for up to 22 weeks with a pillow under your right hip to facilitate proper blood flow. We can always switch to a semi-reclined position if you are not comfortable on your back. After 22 weeks, you will be in side-lying and semi-reclined positions. The semi-reclined position is also called the “Queen Bee” – your back, arms, and legs will all be supported by pillows and most moms feel like they are floating on a cloud in this position!
Common Pregnancy Changes and Discomforts
Even the happiest and healthiest pregnancies are not without their emotional and physical challenges. Your body is stretching in new ways and literally growing and sustaining a second life. As areas of your body open and expand to accommodate a growing human, other areas will naturally shorten and tighten to compensate. It’s common to experience discomfort in the hips and pelvis as ligaments relax and stretch, along with accompanying tightness in the low back as your belly begins to protrude. Sciatic pain is also not uncommon in pregnancy. Other common complaints are swollen feet and lower legs, along with neck and shoulder tension.
Many expectant mothers also struggle with sleep, either due to difficulty finding a comfortable sleep position, indigestion or acid reflux, restlessness, or anxious thoughts. Most moms who come in for prenatal massage are just so happy to lie down on the heated table surrounded by pillows supporting their body and many drift off to sleep during the treatment.
Benefits of Prenatal Massage
Prenatal massage can provide safe and effective relief from the aches and pains of pregnancy, such as tight muscles, low back discomfort, and hip pain. Massage is also effective for reducing fluid retention, increasing circulation, calming the nervous system, and easing stress and fatigue. Regular prenatal massage sessions can help you prepare for labor by increasing your awareness of tension held in your body and learning how to release it, maintaining a relaxed tone in your muscles and connective tissue, and activating your parasympathetic nervous system.
Prenatal massage has been shown to decrease blood pressure and relieve headaches, restless leg syndrome, and cramps. It can also increase blood flow to the placenta, providing better oxygen and nutrient supply to the baby. Prenatal massage can help take care of your skin, which tends to be drier during pregnancy, and can mitigate stretch marks.
Studies have shown that women who receive regular prenatal massage have measurably lower levels of cortisol (considered the stress hormone) and report lower levels of depression and anxiety, along with better sleep and reduced leg and back pain. Women who receive massage during pregnancy also have significantly improved birth outcomes, with fewer complications, fewer premature births, and higher birth weights than control groups. Women who receive prenatal massage tend to have quicker and easier recoveries after giving birth, as well.
The best way to take care of baby is to take care of yourself and prenatal massage is a fantastic way to do that. Whether you are pregnant for the first, third, or fifth time, every pregnancy is different, and the prenatal period is the perfect time to care for yourself, both emotionally and physically, as you prepare to take on a new or expanded role.
Postpartum Massage
Caring for yourself as a mother and a human being shouldn’t end after you give birth. Many experts consider the three to four months after birth to be the “fourth trimester” of pregnancy, as both you and your baby are still experiencing so many changes.
Your body has just been through nine months of stretching and expanding, supporting two human lives, and then giving birth, which can be one of the most intense experiences we have as humans. Now, you are trying to recover from all that and find your new normal, while simultaneously taking care of and perhaps breastfeeding a newborn. You may not be sleeping well, as you adjust to ever-changing feeding and diapering schedules, and your arms, shoulders, neck, and back may be aching from holding and carrying your baby.
Postpartum massage can help address all these physical discomforts and give you a chance to rest, while also providing emotional support and a place to decompress from the pressures of new motherhood.
The heat from our infrared sauna or a hot stone massage can feel amazing during this time and our breast support pillow is ideal for nursing moms. For postpartum massage, book any of our bodywork sessions, and just let us know when you schedule that it is a postpartum session.