To: Online Birth Center ** Midwifery Today
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Bringing a new life into the world is a miraculous, joyous, wonderful and challenging experience for both expectant partners. And it's a proven fact that pregnancy deeply affects each of them individually and their relationship as a couple. A mother-to-be may long for more support from her partner as she copes with fatigue, other normal physical discomforts, and hormonal changes. She may feel worried, anxious, or stressed. She may feel tense about pregnancy, childbirth, motherhood, her job, her health, or her relationship with the father. A father-to-be may feel unsure of what he can do to help his pregnant partner besides just assisting her with physical chores. He may also feel concerned about his role during childbirth, and how he can help his partner most effectively. He may feel uncertain about his feelings for the new baby. He may wonder how the new baby will alter his relationship with his partner. My husband and I also experienced all of these normal questions, concerns, joys and transitions. Fortunately, during our pregnancies we discovered how massage could really help. We found that partner massage also calmed and refreshed me, involved Ralph more in the pregnancy, brought us even closer together as a couple, and helped us both to bond more with our unborn baby. I should tell you that my husband, Ralph is a licensed massage therapist with 13 years' experience. The good news is, a pregnant woman doesn't have to be married to a professional, licensed massage therapist to enjoy the many benefits of a massage during pregnancy. The Benefits of Massage During PregnancyDuring pregnancy a woman's body undergoes many changes, some of them stressful and uncomfortable. Massage is a perfect way to reduce stress and promote general well-being.
Of course, there are many emotional benefits of a massage besides just the physical benefits. When you put your hands on your partner's body, you're also touching her emotions and state of mind. Not only is a massage relaxing, comforting and healing, it is also an expression of love and caring. The intimate nature of touch has the additional advantage of bringing two people closer together. How Every Expectant Father Can Show He Is a Caring Partner and Loving Father (and Learn How to Be a Better Birth Coach, Too!)With massage, Ralph soothed my pounding headaches, unkinked my aching back muscles, loosened my stiff neck, helped the swelling in my legs and feet, uncramped sore calf muscles, relieved general tension and stress, soothed my sciatica (an inflamed nerve condition in my lower back and in the back of my leg) reduced edema (the swelling of the hands, legs, ankles, etc.), and comforted my sore and swollen feet. Together, after a lot of research and experimentation, we discovered the most enjoyable massage techniques for safely relieving the normal discomforts of pregnancy, and the most comfortable positions for both partners. We also found that partner massage not only enhanced our relationship, but helped me to relax and really enjoy being pregnant even more. Especially during our last pregnancy when I really needed regular massage! At the time I had more than the usual physical, mental and emotional challenges to handle (I was a 40-year old expectant mother with an active five-year old daughter, a full-time job, and a recent move to a new home). At the time, Ralph was working long hours at his job, too, so we both had very little "extra" time. Yet a short, well-applied massage of just five or 10 minutes applied by Ralph left me feeling refreshed, calmer and healthier. You see, done properly, massage can be effective and still be as quick and easy and you want it to be. With or without clothes or massage oil. My husband saw that our relationship had improved, I felt calmer and healthier, and that he felt happier because he could "share" the pregnancy with me. Ralph wanted to help other expectant couples. So, together with a little help from me and a professional, state-of-the-art filming studio, he created a 55-minute video guide, Loving Pregnancy with Partner Massage. Divided into six "quick-fix" chapters of five to 10 minutes each, this video program shows how a massage can be quick, easy and effective too. (Or if you have more time, you can watch the entire program and practice a whole body massage.) You'd be amazed how much better you feel after a massage, even a quick one! Some childbirth educators like to show one massage chapter during each of their weekly childbirth classes. They want to help the fathers learn how to be better childbirth coaches. And they feel it is important for the expectant fathers to practice giving their partners massages regularly. As Mary Pustilnik, C.C.A., said after watching the "how-to" video: "Human touch is so important in labor. By doing massage at home first, a man can learn how to touch in a nurturing way before he must know how to do it during the birth of his child. This video guide is a really good idea."
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To: Online Birth Center ** Midwifery Today
Latst updated Sun, Feb 22, 1998 by Donna Dolezal Zelzer, djz@efn.org