Postpartum Massage
Following the delivery of your baby, your body begins a rapid shift to a non-pregnant state. For most women this involves frequent urination and perspiration, continued uterine contractions, production of lochia (vaginal discharge), and general soreness and fatigue from the hard work of labor. Many women also go through a period of “postpartum blues” as their bodies deal with rapid hormone shifts and as they emotionally adjust to a post-pregnancy life with a very needy newborn.
Postpartum massage helps the new mom recover from pregnancy and labor: providing abdominal massage to stimulate and return your organs to their pre-pregnancy state; abdominal connective tissue massage to help the stretched skin and underlying tissues regain elasticity; general circulatory massage to help your body remove any built up toxins and aid in the general “flushing” the body is undergoing; providing structural rebalancing to the hips and low back as those tired and stretched muscles and joints accommodate post-pregnancy size; and relief to exhausted and sore muscles that supported you throughout labor. Massage can help minimize much of this discomfort, as well as relieve any fatigue or anxiety you may be feeling.
These months can also usher in a whole series of new postpartum aches and pains, as breastfeeding women deal with swollen and oftentimes sore breasts, and aching shoulders, necks and upper backs from all those hours holding, nursing and loving that newborn. And, of course, the Dads/Partners can often use a massage right about now as well.
Logistics of Postpartum Massage
Postpartum massage is usually safe immediately to 24-hours after you’ve given birth. However, when you schedule that massage depends on how you feel and your individual situation, some women want it within the first week, and others want to wait a few weeks so they can adjust a bit more to the changes. Most women need to balance major schedule changes including breastfeeding, sleep deprivation, and childcare before they can make it in for a massage. Whenever you are able to get in for your first postpartum massage – it’ll be well needed and deserved!
If your delivery had complications or involved surgery (C-section delivery), we will need to discuss modifying the massage to ensure your comfort and safety, and might need to get approval from your physician. Most women will need to wait 6 weeks post surgery, though occasionally, with a doctor’s approval, we can do a modified treatment before that 6-week mark.
For moms who are unable to find childcare or unable to leave their infant at home, I occasionally make allowances for her to bring her baby into the massage – either with another caregiver present, next to the massage table in a stroller, or at times, even on the table (with mom lying on her side). This is not ideal, as it limits mom’s ability to reap all the benefits of the massage. But sometimes it is the only option available to some women.
Making Mom Comfortable
While most women can’t wait to go face down on the massage table for their postpartum massages, we still sometimes need to make some modifications. I provide clean towels as some extra absorbancy for moms concerned about leaking breasts. I also continue to use pillows to prop and support mom’s body to take the weight off potentially tender or painful breasts. Additionally, in the early weeks following birth, I check-in with the mom to make sure there are no other areas of concern, including any soreness around the site of an epidural and limiting any movement that might irritate a healing perineum.
