Prenatal massage and friend.

[Matt Gavaghen]

I have a friend who asked if I could give her a massage. She is just about 7 weeks along and her OB/GYN said it was fine and my friend said "ok, when i get to my second trimester i will and the OB said nonsense it's fine at anytime in your pregnancy. I told her i would not do it, explained all the usual reason why i wouldn't, toxins' released all that and her OB said toxins are released during exercise and PG women still exercise, it's no big deal. What do i say to that?


Thanks

 

[Wesley M]

Friend or no friend I still would not massage her regardless of what her doctor says.

I wouldn't take the risk. What else to say I don't know what all you told her. First trimesters ...no way,once in there second trimester I would massage them. Keep in mind too that most MD's are ignorant when it comes to massage and what it can do.

 

[Dreamer :)]

It's better to be safe than sorry! Just explain to her that a massage may be okay for others you feel it's against your better judgement. What if something were to go wrong in her pregnancy, she may always wonder if she shouldn't have gotten work done......If she's your friend she will understand. You know massage better than her doctor.

Steph!

 

[kokopelli9090]

i've heard it both ways from ob/gyn's. i don't know what to think, who to trust, or what research to believe.

 

[justbeingher]

I'd probably work on her if both of you were comfortable with it. I'm of the mind that massage is good any time during pregnancy, as long as care is taken to really listen to the client and the body. Now, I'd only work on her because she is a friend and you have a (hopefully) trusting relationship with her. I wouldn't work on just anyone at this time.

I actually just had this same situation this past weekend. A good friend of mine called in dire need of a massage, her back was killing her. I scheduled her for Sat morning and when she arrived she told me she was about 7 weeks along with #2. I explained to her that I normally wouldn't work on someone until their 2nd trimester unless I had a relationship with that person because the risk of miscarriage is much higher during the first trimester. And that massage cannot cause a miscarriage but I don't want anyone to feel as if it had, if it were to occur. We talked about all the issues concerning massage during the first trimester and the differences between pregnancy massage and regular massage. I just got an email from her thanking me profusely because she has finally had a few nights of good sleep, thanks to the relief I gave her back.

Jen

 

[Ghapy]

I'd probably work on her if both of you were comfortable with it. I'm of the mind that massage is good any time during pregnancy, as long as care is taken to really listen to the client and the body. Now, I'd only work on her because she is a friend and you have a (hopefully) trusting relationship with her. I wouldn't work on just anyone at this time.

I actually just had this same situation this past weekend. A good friend of mine called in dire need of a massage, her back was killing her. I scheduled her for Sat morning and when she arrived she told me she was about 7 weeks along with #2. I explained to her that I normally wouldn't work on someone until their 2nd trimester unless I had a relationship with that person because the risk of miscarriage is much higher during the first trimester. And that massage cannot cause a miscarriage but I don't want anyone to feel as if it had, if it were to occur. We talked about all the issues concerning massage during the first trimester and the differences between pregnancy massage and regular massage. I just got an email from her thanking me profusely because she has finally had a few nights of good sleep, thanks to the relief I gave her back.

Jen

I am with Jen. She has said everything here that I would have.

 

[Phi Mu SiS]

I received a publication from Massage Today in the mail today. First one I have ever received and I actually like it so I hope they send more issues!
Anyway they have an article in it about massaging during the first trimester, I found it quite interesting and educational and hope you do as well.

http://www.massagetoday.com/archives/2006/01/11.html

 

[darachow]

I am so glad that you posted that link. I hesitated to post on this subject because I'd be greatly outnumbered. I've been doing massage for over 14 yrs and I've never refused to massage pregnant women in any trimester as long as it was a healthy prenancy and the client was not experiencing any problems. In fact we were taught in massage school that it was prefectly fine to massage in the 1st trimester. We have 12 therapists at our clinic and most of us are "long-timers" and all of us will massage anytime during pregnancy.

Most women don't even know that they're pregnant until they're half-way through the 1st trimester. By the time your period is 2 weeks late, you're 6 wks along by medical standards.

As long as it is a healthy pregnancy and the mother isn't experiencing anything that would be a contra-indication (cramping, spotting, severe morning sickness) then there is no reason they can't be massaged using proper cautions. The only reason to refuse them is fear of being sued and since massage (using proper cautions and considerations) can not medically cause a miscarriage then that is an unfound fear. If you're worried about litigation then insist on a release form from their OB.

Just my 2 cents,
Angie

 

[xxabbyxxjoexx]

Angie, you are not alone.

I read this link dumbfounded, because for a few moments I thought I(my massage) was some huge hazard to newly pregnant women that my education had totally skipped over!!!!!!!!!!

I am just stunned and saddened that people are refusing their services for fear of being sued for something that has no medical validity.
t022

Noel

 

[XIXIX]

Yes, that "no massage in the first trimester" is more for the benefit of the therapist than the client - higher risk of miscarriage, so generally recommended not to.

As stated before, a lot of women don't even know they are pregnant until 6-8 weeks. With new clients that ring up and say they are 8 weeks, I do usually ask them to wait another month - though I have very few enquiries for pregnancy massage that early in the pregnancy.
Existing clients that tell me they are pregnant at 4 weeks, I will happily continue to work on them through the first trimester.

One of my regulars was still still feeding her baby when she fell pregnant again, so she didn't really notice she was pregnant. Her neck, shoulders, upper back were all a tight from feeding and lugging huge baby around, and we'd been using heat packs on her neck, heat packs on her shoulders, deep work on the shoulders in the area to avoid during pregnancy, plus working the heels during a pedicure/mini reflexology session. I'd used a low concentrate of some "never to be used in pregnany" essential oils (uterine tonics), but it was a very low concentration as she was still feeding the other baby. We'd even been using heat packs on the belly, but I hadn't done that for 6 weeks before finding out she was pregnant - not sure if that was just me intuatively forgetting to do it. Anyway, pretty much everything else would've been a no no for a pregnancy massage, and the pregnancy continued on quite happily. She was about 9 weeks pregnant when she eventually noticed. Her ob told her to stop getting massages immediately so she cancelled her next appointment, once she was past 13 weeks the ob said she could have a massage again. She's 7.5 months now and all going along smoothly.