Heather's Page

New Mom’s and Massage

As a Massage Therapist I see lot’s of women with all sorts of pain and injury issues. But one pattern I see over and over again is with Mother’s of young children (3 and under). They come in  and express very similar pain patterns. I realize that these poor women are so in need and overdue for some pampering!  Of course as a Mother of a 2 and 5-year-old I can relate!   To avoid chronic aches, pains and weaknesses, new Mom’s should be getting massage as soon as possible after they give birth!  A colleague of mine always says, “within 3 days!”  That way we can catch the muscles that have been heavily taxed during labor, before the medication wears off and before they get all tensed up and lock into dysfunctional contracted positions. Of course this isn’t always possible but the idea is that the sooner a new Mother can get some work done  the better. Massage Therapy can help relax, rebalance and increase circulation to the muscles of a womans body at a time when the Mother is totally focused on her baby and not on her own body. But her body is in dire need of focus during this time.

Though that first early visit is crucial, new Mom’s should get regular massage as well.  We carry our babies and children probably more than we realize and we also look down a lot.  This creates new stress patterns. Regular massage can help minimize the pain and imbalance caused by these new stress patterns.

 Mom’s think about what you do all day- if you aren’t nursing and gazing down at your baby, you might be watching him or her roll around or crawl on the floor.  You might even be listening to him or her tell you a story, again looking down; because our children are shorter than we are!  I am not talking about your six-foot tall teenager,  I am talking about birth to 5 years old, those are the really tough on our body years. New Mom’s often experience severe tightness in the neck, upper back and shoulders followed quickly soon after by chronic reoccurring low back pain.

This precious time is  the one in which you need to be kind to your body and have the tension in your back,  neck, yes even your pecks and arms (that has built up, from packing either your children and/or their stuff around), released and worked out. And you need to do it before the pain gets in the way of you enjoying your time with your baby/toddler.  I know from experience it is hard to schedule self-care like regular massage therapy into your live, but I also know that it is VERY important that you do so. 

Do you have a young child?  Are you often stiff or sore?  If so, please do yourself a favor and schedule out 2 to 4 massages at a regular interval- be it once a week, once every other week, every 3 weeks or monthly. Just do it and make sure it’s on your calendar for 4 times!  This will get you into  a workable  rhythm, and allow you to not have to think about when you might be able to fit it in the next time.  And the effects will be cumulative and keep you feeling great so you can really enjoy being a Mom. Good luck Moms!  And hopefully I will see you soon.  :)  – Heather

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