• Facilitates postpartum emotional, physiological and family adjustments.

• Reduces musculoskeletal and organ pain

• Promotes structural realignment of the spine and pelvis, and reorganization of movement

Your body recovers more quickly when you have proper sleep, rest, nutrition, hydration, and light movement, but most new moms are busy. They are taking care of their new baby and that doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for themselves. It’s essential to commit to the idea that you are just as important, and that making time for yourself will help aid in your recovery, so you can be the best mom you can be. Working with a massage therapist who is knowledgeable in postpartum massage can help you do this in an effective and safe way. Just like in prenatal massage, we can help educate you in safe body-use guidelines for walking, sitting, sleeping, carrying and other daily tasks and childcare activities that reduce further strain on your body.

When can I receive postpartum massage?

When working with a knowledgeable postpartum massage therapist, you can enjoy a massage within 24 hours of giving birth, or as soon as you feel comfortable. Ideally, receiving a postpartum massage within 4 days of giving birth is highly recommended, because of the marathon your body goes through during labor.

In our massage practice, your massage therapist will go over your intake form to find out any pertinent details that can help them decide what their treatment may look like. We’ll set aside time for a brief 5-10 minute chat, our pre-consultation, to discuss with you what goals you might have for your massage, how your body is feeling in your current stage of postpartum, daily newborn child care activities you might be engaging in, how your sleep is going, etc. All of this information is so important to us, as it gives us an excellent starting off point in how we will approach the massage, and what possible education we can provide for you, for in-between sessions.

All positions for postpartum massage are considered safe, but some positions might be more comfortable than others. This will depend on whether you’ve had a vaginal or cesarean birth, and where you are in your healing. During our pre-consultation we will speak with you about what might feel most comfortable for you, face up, facedown, sidelying or even semi-reclined, and we remain flexible with this, as this comfort can change at any point.

Oftentimes women may have breast tenderness and laying face down can be uncomfortable, in which case we can offer support to alleviate that pressure. This is done by placing a rolled towel under the collar bone to lift and support the shoulders and upper chest. If you’ve had a cesarean birth, we can work with you in the sidelying position until you have been cleared by your doctor and feel comfortable enough to lay on your belly. Additionally you may need to nurse your little one, during your session. When this is needed, we can place you in the semi-reclined position with our wedge pillow or the sidelying position in order to accommodate this. Whatever position is used, feeling comfortable is key, and if any adjustments are needed, we encourage that feedback.

After explaining the positioning, the therapist will leave the room to wash their hands, while you disrobe and get onto the table. During the session, the therapist will communicate with you on pressure, asking if you prefer more or less. Depending on the needs of the client, the therapist may also find opportunities to educate you on their findings and how to help alleviate certain concerns.

When you are early postpartum, within a week of giving birth, massage will be slightly different than a typical session. Instead of using deep targeted pressure points, your postpartum massage therapist will use very light pressure and broad strokes. The therapist will often perform a full body massage rather than focusing on a select few sore muscles to promote relaxation. If you are within 10 days of your postpartum recovery the therapist may also perform a uterine fundal massage to help the uterus descend back into the pelvis.

For those who are a few weeks, even months into your postpartum recovery, massage will look more like what you may be used to with some slight differences. The therapist can provide any pressure which you feel comfortable with and use most, if not all techniques available to them. The session will focus on any residual aches and pains that may be left over from pregnancy, labor and breastfeeding, and can even include working on a healed scar from cesarean birth.

All postpartum sessions can include a beautiful closing to the session, called “sealing”. This is where the therapist will create an energetic closing effect, cocooning you within the massage linens, starting at the feet and finishing at the head, leaving a space open around the face. The therapist will twist the linens gently and firmly at the midline of the body, pausing at any areas in which you may feel “open”, to energetically seal these places before moving on. This is a beautiful closing to a postpartum session, but will only be performed with your consent.

At the end of the session the therapist will excuse themselves to wash their hands while you get off the table and dress. We’ll end with our post-consultation. Here is where you can discuss any questions you may have about what happened during session, we can discuss what we found and provide breath work, stretching, self massage techniques or other education to help you feel better in your body. We may also recommend other trusted professionals, depending on what additional postpartum support you may need in your fourth trimester.

How often should I receive postpartum massage?

Just like in pregnancy, this depends on your goals, schedule and budget. Everyone’s postpartum journey will be different, which is why speaking with your therapist for specific guidelines can be helpful. Generally we recommend at least 3 sessions within the first 4 months of your postpartum. After that, we recommend seeing you once a month to help continue to aid your body in the transition into motherhood.

If regular massage is something that you plan to add to your postpartum recovery, we recommend taking a look at our Nurtured Mama massage packages, which will help you commit to your wellbeing during the postpartum period, while also being cost effective.

Common postpartum massage questions.

Here are a few common questions we hear when it comes to postpartum massage. Click each one to learn a bit more.