Pregnancy is apparently and without a doubt a very painful experience a woman can have in her lifetime. At the same time, it can also be an extremely wonderful journey for an expectant mother. Either ways, your overall pregnancy experience depends on how you cope with your symptoms.
Expectant mothers seem to have different symptoms and experiences during their pregnancy. Some have it easy and some have it hard. And when it says hard, it means experiencing several physical pains in the different parts of the body. Fortunately, there is a way a mother can eliminate those painful pregnancy symptoms and thus augment her joy of pregnancy to make it a more memorable journey.
In a medical study, it has been indicated that massage therapy performed during pregnancy can reduce anxiety, decrease symptoms of depression, and relieve muscle aches and joint pains. It addresses many common discomforts associated with the skeletal and circulatory changes brought on by hormone shifts during pregnancy.
In point of fact, prenatal massage also helps in making labour easy and it reduces complications for the baby.
According to a report, massaged mothers are said to have a decrease in depressed mood, anxiety and pain and showed less agitated activity and anxiety and more positive effect following the first massage during labour. In addition, the massaged mothers had significantly shorter labours, a shorter hospital stay and less postpartum depression.
Not only has the mother benefited directly from the advantages of prenatal massage, but also the baby. A research on prenatal depression effects on the foetus showed that prenatal massage elevated prenatal maternal cortisol which is the strongest predictor of these neonatal outcomes. Moderate pressure massage can alleviate these effects, thus newborns were also less likely to be born prematurely and with low birth weight.
Not only has medical research shown that massage will help mothers relieve immediate symptoms during pregnancy, but it also helps with shortening labour hours and significantly reduce the labour pain. With these natural pain management methods, this results in a lower administration of drugs and painkillers into the body. Postnatal complications are reduced, thus hospital stay is shorter, and incidence of postnatal depression is significantly reduced.
Prenatal massage has benefits that are affecting the baby in which the overall well being and happiness of the mother is directly related to the development of the baby. High stress level or depression releases the chemical cortisols which contribute to the baby being born prematurely or with a low birth weight. Massage can help reduce the chances of these effects on the baby.
With Light and Love,
Salwa Salim
