“Rather than escape from winter I try to embrace it as a time to be introspective and restful. Chinese medical philosophy teaches that balance comes from living in harmony with natural cycles.”
As an acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist, Jill Blakeway relies on ancient wisdom to solve modern beauty maladies like dull skin, dark circles, blotchy complexions, and stubborn acne.
This week’s blog is written by New York massage therapist Nicole Kruck. Nicole specializes in fertility massage as well as pre and postnatal massage. We often get asked questions about prenatal massage and decided to put some of these questions to Nicole. Below are her answers. You can book an appointment with Nicole online by clicking here.
It is just like a regular massage: it loosens the muscles and joints, improves the circulation to you and your baby, and relieves fatigue.
The difference is prenatal massage is performed by a New York certified prenatal massage specialist who is able to target the unique needs of mothers-to-be in each trimester. These therapists are adept at working with specific conditions that can occur during pregnancy such as pelvic pain, digestive and elimination issues to bring you safe relief.
The length of your prenatal massage can range from sixty minutes to two hours depending on your specific needs. Several techniques are employed such as Swedish massage, myofascial, stretching & range of motion, and other modalities to relax and soothe the body, treat and ease tensions. At the end of the session you are left feeling restored, relaxed and comfortable in your happy body. You will also get tips on how to sleep better, foods that support pregnancy, relaxation techniques and exercise to support you during this time of added stress.
As your pregnancy progresses you will find each trimester will hold it’s own focus for your body’s needs.
This is when we create the foundation for your pregnancy.
As weight in your belly begins to increases your center of gravity shifts adding stress and strain to weaker areas. This is your opportunity to concentrate on muscles, ligaments, and postural problems to create a stronger structural foundation.
The focus of your first trimester is to address any pre-existing conditions that would include chronic issues: back, neck, shoulder or pelvic pain, sciatica, or other recurring problems. Immediately attending to these issues will support your body’s ability to more easily distribute the added weight as your baby grows. Along with physical support massage at this time also reduces emotional anxieties which are important to a healthy foundation.
In some ways this is your baby’s first massage
At this stage the pregnancy is settled in and it is time to focus on uterine support. As your uterus increases in size( 4 oz to 13 lb..) it is easy to over stress the 13 ligaments which give it support. Keeping the ligaments toned easily prevents many debilitating symptoms such as pelvic or back pain, premature delivery, and back labor. However, most importantly massage is a wonderful way to connect to your baby. You will be taught your own self care massage for home play.
This is when we start to prepare you for labor.
So many internal and external events are taking place in preparation for your labor and birth. As strain to ligaments increase due to weight and increased hormones simple movements can induce pain until the muscles around them are releases. Also uterine pressure to your legs can cause excessive swelling along with blockages to digestion and elimination. Not only does prenatal massage on a regular basis help combat these symptoms but it will also relax your body in preparation for an easier labor, delivery and recovery.
Yes indeed. I like to say that we are returning a wandering womb
Your body has been put under tremendous stress. Especially in the abdominal and pelvic area where there are many new physical and emotional demands. These experiences – recovering from your pregnancy, delivery (especially with cesarean section) and now caring for your newborn are all individually major transitions. Postnatal massage supports recovery of all these stages in a gentle and effective way.
One major overlooked problem in postpartum recovery are the uterine ligaments. These ligaments are meant to easily expand to accommodate pregnancy however, recovery can many times create complications. One uterine massage after birth will not usually repair the nine months they have endured under great pressure. Especially if there was some type of trauma during delivery (such back labor, cesarean, extended pushing, improper care). These ligaments have a hard time recovering just like the over stretched elastic in your waist band. If they are not properly healed the uterus can not return to it’s proper positioning and many can complications occur. Some complications are incontinence, uterine, bladder or rectal prolapse, constipation, scar tissue especially with caesarean fallopian tube blockages and future fertility issues.
Getting regular massage and learning to do your own “Self-Care Massage” will assist not only the uterine ligaments and uterus to return to proper place but, will support the harmony of all healing.
You can start Postpartum Massage one week after a normal vaginal delivery, six weeks after a normal cesarean and after release of doctors care from any other complications.
The health of your uterus and it’s ligaments will assist you in avoiding common complications such as incontinence, prolapse, scar tissue (especially with caesarean) and future fertility issues. Prenatal massage does more than benefit the mother. Everything a pregnant woman does from her diet and fitness to her relaxation and relative state of contentment – also directly affects the child she is carrying. Study after study has proven that calmness in the mother leads to healthier baby development.
According to a study¹ receiving regular prenatal massage benefits labor by:
Prenatal massage:
1. Touch Study Support for Pregnancy by Marshall Klaus, MD
This week I was interested to read a new study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology which showed that ear acupuncture can significantly reduce low back and pelvic pain in pregnant women. You can read the full text of the study here. This is not the first research study to look at this. In fact in 2005 I was interviewed by ABC news about a previous study in the British Medical Journal that also showed acupuncture can help with pregnancy back pain. You can watch that clip here.
Up to 1 in 5 women suffer from back and pelvic girdle pain in pregnancy. Usually our patients complain of pain in the low back and buttocks although some patients also feel discomfort at the front of their pelvic area. Some women also experience radiating pain down one or both of their legs. Most women tell us that the pain gets worse if they have to stand for a long time. In 7% of women the pain continues after they have given birth becoming a chronic lower back issue.
At the YinOva Center many of our pregnant patients are keen to avoid medication, if possible, and so they choose acupuncture as a gentle and safe way to treat their pain. We 
usually use a combination of ear acupuncture as described in this recent study and local acupuncture as outlined in the previous study. The local acupuncture works in three ways – the needles act on the nervous system to interrupt the pain signal, the combination of needles causes the body to release chemicals which act as natural pain killers and by needling the spasms we get the knots in the muscles to release.
In the recent study the patients only received ear acupuncture which has a long history of efficacy in China 
and has been found in clinical research to initiate an endorphin release. 152 women, in late pregnancy, were divided into three groups one of which had small acupuncture needles held in place by tape and retained in three ear acupoints for one week. Another group received sham acupuncture and the final group acted as a control and received no acupuncture at all although they were instructed to rest and take painkillers if necessary. 81% of women in the ear acupuncture group reported a significant reduction in pain as oppose to 59% of the women in the sham acupuncture group and 47% of the women in the control group.
Acupuncture is a time-tested therapy for pain relief and because it has few side effects is one of the safest ways of releiving pain in pregnant women. Most of our patients get relief from the combination of ear and body acupuncture and usually feel much better after 2 or 3 treatments. Other helpful treatments include gentle stretching exercises as well as massage by a qualified prenatal massage therapist and we usually suggest that women do one of these in conjunction with their acupuncture treatment.
I recently wrote a blog entry that was all about influencing the sex of your baby. All that talk about X and Y chromosomes prompted one of my patients to ask me about Fragile X syndrome. She had just been diagnosed as a carrier for this disorder and wanted me to help her sort through her options.
Fragile X is a genetic disorder and is the most common cause of inherited mental impairment and cognitive problems including some forms of autism. It is caused by a mutation of the FMR1 gene on the X chromosome. The mutation turns off the production of the FMR1 protein which in turn affects brain development. People with Fragile X suffer from mental impairment which can take the form of anything from very minor learning difficulties to severe cognitive problems. They may be hyperactive or over sensitive to stimuli and they may have short attention spans. Physically people with Fragile X may have a long narrow face, prominent ears, enlarged testicles and loose joints. Approximately 1 in 2000 boys suffer some kind of mental impairment due to Fragile X. The disorder also affects girls but the incidence is lower and the symptoms tend to be milder. This is because girls have 2 copies of the X chromosome whereas boys only have one. This means that girls have 2 copies of the FMR1 gene so if one is mutated a girl has another copy of the gene to fall back on. Boys only have one X chromosome.
Fragile X syndrome is carried on the X chromosome. Since men (XY) and women (XX) each have at least one X chromosome, both parents can be carriers.
If a father is a carrier, he can only pass the gene defect to his daughters, since he transmits a Y chromosome to his sons. All of his daughters will inherit the gene, but as far as anyone knows this inherited defect will be in the premutation stage which means that if a daughter inherits Fragile X from her father she will not be symptomatic although she can pass the disorder on to her children.
If a mother is the carrier, she can pass the gene defect to either her sons or her daughters, since she contributes an X chromosome to each. If, as a woman, you are a carrier you have a 50% chance of passing the gene on because you have two X chromosomes and only one of them is affected. So if you are a carrier you may not pass on the defect at all or you may just pass on the premutation or your child could inherit the full syndrome. Sons who have fragile X are at high risk of intellectual disability but daughters who receive the fragile X gene may appear normal because the have two X chromosomes and only one is affected.
A simple blood test can establish if you are a carrier of Fragile X and the degree to which this mutation is likely to cause problems for your child. Geneticists classify the gene mutation into three categories based on the number of repeats of a pattern of DNA called CGG repeats. Individuals with less than 60 CGG repeats have a normal gene. Individuals with 60-200 CGG repeats have a premutation which means they do have a small risk of their child suffering from Fragile X syndrome and that risk is directly related to the number of CGG repeats. Parents with over 200 repeats have a full mutation which causes fragile X syndrome.
As for my patient. She fell into the middle ground in that she had the premutation and so was at a small risk of passing on Fragile X. Fortunately we live in a time when we have access to good genetic testing and advice. Her doctor was able to reassure her that, because the number of CGG repeats was low her risk of passing this disorder on to her child was minimal. An amniocentesis at 16 weeks was able to confirm her doctor’s prediction and she was relieved to hear that her baby was just fine.
Although it’s scary to find out that you are a carrier for a genetic disorder such as Fragile X, it’s important to find out more about your own situation. You may find that with a combination of genetic and prenatal testing you , like my patient, receive reassuring news.
I enjoyed this video by Alice Eve Jones performing an extract from her book, What I Thought I Knew. In it she describes how, after a long struggle with infertility, she was told she was in menopause, only to find out that she was pregnant. Recently Dr. David and I were consulted by a patient in her mid-thirties who was told she was menopausal and that she should give up all hope of bearing her own child. She’s now four months pregnant. Miracles do happen. In fact they happen all the time.
Thanks to Njemile Carol Jones, an fabulous acupuncturist in Maryland for sending me this link. Njemile specializes in OB/GYN with a particular specialty in treating infertility. So if you are looking for an acupuncturist in the MD or DC area she would be an excellent choice.
Website by Britt+Barton