How to Massage a Pregnant Woman

Series Summary

Massages and massage therapy can be extremely beneficial and relaxing for many people who have chronic muscle pain or simply need to relax and reduce stress. Massage is a treatment where soft body tissues are manipulated for physical, functional and therapeutic goals, and was developed in many ancient cultures. Today, massage therapy is used in a variety of ways, including pain relief, increasing the health of patients with a variety of diseases, and increasing mental health. It has also been show to increase flexibility, lower blood pressure, and stimulate the immune system. In this free video series, a massage therapy instructor and business owner demonstrates a variety of massage techniques. Discover how to massage a pregnant woman, how to give massages for pain relief and how to give foot massages. Make massage oils, relieve tension and discover different uses for massage oils with these health tips.

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Gretchen Rivas, with Relax to the Max Massage Therapy, and today, we're going to talk about how to massage a pregnant woman. When you're working with a pregnant woman, you don't want to lay her flat on her back, after the 22nd week of pregnancy, and from the 13th to the 22nd week, you do want to put some type of a little wedge under the right side, if she is on her back, to make sure that the fetus rolls off of the vena cava, which is a major vein return, to the heart. When you are working with a pregnant woman, if she's in this position, you want to have lots of cushioning, so she's comfortable, and you want it so her head is looking forward this way, and not that she's so far back, that her head is staring up at the ceiling. When you're working this, you can work the chest area here, work the neck. This kind of relieves a lot of tension through here. They're usually very tight when they're pregnant. Do a little neck work, and some shoulder work. Don't do any real specific pointed pressure right here. This is a acupressure point, that you don't want to activate, when they're pregnant. Then, you would come down and work the arm area. Work the arm through here. You can do a little stretching, like this, through here, and this helps open up this, because the chest gets really tight, when somebody is pregnant, and work that whole arm. Massage it. Put some lotion on it, massage that. Then, also when you're doing the leg, you want to do their drape, so that it's, they feel secure there, and then turn the leg, so that you can get to the thigh, underneath here. Do it like this. Then, massage this whole leg. No deep pointed pressure, in the anterior thigh in here, because the risk of blood clots is very high, when they're pregnant, and if there's any redness, shininess, or acheyness, in the back of the leg, that could be a sign of a clot, so don't massage them. Make sure they go see their doctor right away, and then after you're done with the legs, and arms, and chest, and neck, and head, you want to turn them on their side, and give them some back work and back massage, and that's how you give a pregnant massage."