The moment you announce your pregnancy, you start getting advice left and right. From tips on how to have a healthier pregnancy to parenting advice, everyone has an opinion?
It’s difficult to know who has the facts to back up their ideas and who’s parroting the latest meme they saw. There is one piece of advice you know you can trust, though: get prenatal massage therapy.
Prenatal massages need to be done the right way and at the right times, but when they are, they offer a host of potential benefits.
1. Stress Management
Limiting your stress during pregnancy is one of the top ways doctors tell you to keep yourself and your baby healthy. Of course, that’s easier said than done when your entire body aches and you’re preparing for the most dramatic change you’ll experience in your life.
As difficult as it is to keep it under control, your stress does make a difference in your pregnancy. It shifts the vital hormones throughout your body and increases your all-important blood pressure.
Excessive stress in pregnancy has ties to premature deliveries, low birth weights, and brain development issues as well.
Prenatal massages, on the other hand, use the art of touch to relax you and help you keep your cool.
2. Muscle Relief
Your muscles put up with a lot during your pregnancy. They have extra weight to carry around, and that weight is proportioned in ways your body has never supported before. It isn’t surprising when that extra strain makes your muscles ache.
Prenatal massage therapy can target the specific muscles that are tense and give you much-needed relief. The same goes for achy joints that stem from the same excess pressure.
3. Healthy Circulation
Your bloodstream is the key supply highway throughout your body. It’s responsible for bringing oxygen, hormones, nutrients, and more to different parts of your body. During pregnancy, that includes your baby, too.
To keep the supply coming, you need your circulation to stay running in tip-top shape. Prenatal massage is one way to make that happen.
Massages reduce inflammation throughout your body while clearing the way for healthier, more steady blood flow.
4. Ability to Exercise
A healthy exercise regimen is an important way to help your pregnancy go as smoothly as possible. It keeps your blood flowing, regulates your hormones, and helps you stay strong for your baby’s arrival.
Exercising isn’t easy when all your muscles and joints ache with every movement, though.
Prenatal massage could be the perfect way to get yourself back on the treadmill. It soothes your aches and reenergizes you so you have the strength and the vitality to give your body the workout it needs.
5. Swelling Reduction
It’s no secret that swelling is a common problem during most women’s pregnancies. The extra work your body does creates excess fluid storage. Before you know it, your feet look like they belong on someone twice your size.
The right local massage option is a great way to fight back.
Massages help your body drain extra fluids through your lymphatic system. Some massage techniques focus on this goal more than others do, so be sure to tell your therapist that this is a key concern for you.
6. Hormone Health
You may have discovered this already, but by the end of your pregnancy, you’ll be so tired of hearing about your hormones that you can live the rest of your life without hearing the “h” word.
Hormones play a crucial role in fetal development and in your own health during pregnancy. On top of your basic mechanics, your hormones regulate critical needs like sleep and relaxation.
Prenatal massages help to keep all those essential hormones in check. They regulate the hormones, especially those associated with stress relief and relaxation.
7. Sciatica Relief
There’s nothing quite like sciatic pain. It feels like someone is shooting a lightning bolt from your lower back down your legs.
Sciatica is common during pregnancy. As your baby, placenta, and other tissues grow, your uterus becomes heavier and heavier. It puts pressure onto the muscles around your lower back, eventually compressing the sciatic nerve.
Prenatal massages help by combatting the inflammation in and around your sciatic nerve, keeping the sharp pain to a minimum.
8. Mood Regulation
Your body goes through a lot during your pregnancy, from aches and pains to complete shifts in your shape and functions. Amid all the physical symptoms, some moms-to-be overlook their emotional and mental health.
Unfortunately, depression has a way of sneaking in during pregnancy. Your hormones are changing by the minute and sometimes that doesn’t all go as planned. When certain hormone levels dip too low, it leads to depression.
The good news is that prenatal massages can help. They can kick your hormone levels back into a more normal arrangement and boost the hormones that regulate your mood.
9. Sleep Improvement
You already know that as soon as you give birth, sleep will be hard to come by. The cruel reality is that sleep disturbances often start the moment that pregnancy symptoms do.
Losing sleep has a serious impact on your body, especially for a pregnant person. It impacts your hormone levels while also cutting back on the vital energy you need to get through the day with the extra strain on your body.
Prenatal massages reduce the many discomforts and stresses that come with pregnancy. You can rest more comfortably and soak up all the sleep you can.
How to Find the Right Prenatal Massage Therapy for You
Prenatal massage therapy has a lot to offer. Not only does it make your pregnancy and your baby’s growth healthier, but it makes the whole process more comfortable for you, too.
The key is choosing a massage therapist who knows what they’re doing and knows how to cater your massage to your pregnancy and your needs.
If you want more top health tips for any stage of your life, check out the other articles on our blog.
