Garbabhyanga

The massage in pregnancy

During the period of pregnancy a series of changes takes place in woman’s metabolism, in the sphere of mental and emotional. The massage during this period helps to give flexibility to the body and mind in order to cope with all the changes in an optimal way.

At best, the woman prepares for pregnancy by making flexible and agile muscles through exercise, which may include yoga asana, pranayama, massage and special attention to nutrition.

Even if you have not made adequate preparation for this important event during the first three months of pregnancy, you can devote to this purpose for the rest of the time. In addition to doing something about the flexibility of the body, it is good to do something for the harmony of the mind, exercise can be integrated with practice of meditation or prayer that induces a state of profound inner serenity.

All these practices encourage the maintenance of optimal health unifying the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of pregnant woman. This creates a better atmosphere for the growth of the child and the ability to recover quickly after giving birth.

During the first three months of pregnancy, massage with oil is done with special attention to spinal and abdominal regions. Have backbone and their muscles strong helps to bear the weight of the child, to avoid problems and spinal pain, while the flexibility of the abdominal and pelvic regions promotes ease of delivery.

After the first three months women should carefully avoid anything that might adversely affect the position of the fetus in the uterus. For this reason, during the massage it is not used the prone position with belly down, but massage is done on pregnant women only in the supine position and lying on the side. The massage to the abdominal region becomes just a caress and massage should be emphasized in the pelvic region, on spinal and back muscles.

In the last six months of pregnancy alternating massage with breathing exercises and inner relaxation methods are very important because they help to deal with the intensification of negative emotions even as fear and depression, more or less present, due to physical and emotional stress. The massage and other practices encourage the production of hormones of growth in the right proportion, the optimal transfer of prana (vital force) and oxygen to the fetus to develop properly and also increase the status of peace and harmony in mother and child.