Prenatal Care & Ready, Set, Labor Primed!!

Let’s start here!

Congratulations! You are pregnant! Or trying to conceive? 

So, the next step is setting up your prenatal care. For expectant mommas, massage can be a very relaxing and restorative, relieving stress, releasing tension, calming the nerves, improving sleep and much more. 

Abdominal Therapy is based on knowledge handed down through generations of Mayan healers and traditional midwives with every technique applied having an intended positive physiological affect on the body focusing on the low back, sacrum, glutes and womb. 

With Abdominal Therapy, we encourage homeostasis (balance) and hemodynamics (flow) by releasing restrictions, increasing blood flow to the abdomen strengthening ligaments supporting the womb thus creating more space for baby. It relieves many aches and pains associated with pregnancy and promotes improved sleep. In addition, this therapy improves circulation of blood and lymph, relieves congested veins, normalizes blood pressure, and minimizes edema (swelling). It releases diaphragmatic tension, improves digestion, promotes increased absorption of nutrients, & better elimination of waste. 

Sessions are usually scheduled once a month at 60 to 75 minutes. 

Abdominal Therapy is a gentle massage, yet very profound. It is also a progressive therapy adding specialized techniques at 36 and 38 weeks that are beneficial for labor and delivery.

This is the gold standard of prenatal massage & can begin at the onset of conception.

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By the way, do you know the difference between midwifery training and OB training? What you need to know about Obstetricians (OBs). Find the answer under "Benefits of Prenatal Abdominal Therapy.

Abdominal Therapy is a progressive therapy. This means that at 36 & 38 weeks of pregnancy,  specialized techniques are added that physiologically contribute towards increased efficiency of labor from active to birth. At this time, the center of balance shifts, strain is added on weight bearing joints & lower back curvature increases adding more compression to those muscles. Abdominal Therapy helps mom stay calm, comfortable and confident assists the body to produce oxytocin during labor and birth. It restores balance to overstretched muscles, releases tension in tight muscles, while relieving many of the aches and pains associated with pregnancy and promoting improved sleep. It also encourage baby's head to engage with the cervix. 

Starting at 36 weeks, another technique is applied at the pudendal plexus which is a mixed nerve bundle mainly in charge of the sensory and motor supply of the perineum and external genitalia using voluntary control of body movements by using pelvic floor muscles. These nerves innervate all of the pelvic floor providing the voluntary/somatic control of fecal & urinary continence. 

At 38 weeks to birth, two more methods are introduced; one of which is a full body stretch which really opens up the body and feels great for mom. Acupressure points for onset of labor are done at this time too.

At 36 weeks, weekly visits of 75 to 90 minutes are recommended. 

If you have made it this far through the matrix of information, my hat is off to you. 

Below is a list of benefits of Abdominal Therapy. Believe me, mommas are ecstatic  and relieved wIth the  relaxation and relief from discomfort they are experiencing.

• Relief from pain & discomfort of pregnancy
• Reduce tension & anxiety 
• Improved blood flow to baby & pelvic floor muscles
• Increase 5 systems of flow (venous/arterial, nervous, lymphatic & chi) to uterine muscle & placenta
• Improved fetal position for birth providing optimal easy way through birth canal
• Increased oxytocin (love hormone) to cultivate love & transcend fear
• May increase oxytocin receptors for birth 
• Increase alignment of pelvic bones
• Decreased congestion due to fluid stasis
• Decreased first trimester nausea
• Decreased pain from sciatica or hip mis-alignment
• Increased circulation of blood & lymph to sacrum
• Improved potential for the sacrum, the baby door, to oscillate during labor
• Improved nerve flow through the sacrum improving conduction to uterus & cervix
• Heal past traumas provided by release of relaxin
• Improved craniosacral rhythm: motility
• Improved joint flexibility at L5: mobility
• Protection of uterine ligaments from exaggerated stretching 

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"Dr. Stuart Fischbein shares his insights, the hard lessons he’s gained over his career, as well as why he still does breech deliveries, VBACs, and homebirths." Check out this Birthful podcast:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2DqgSoRvohzIzX0cts55uA?si=K-jZ9Y_cS8qhh4RDnuc4IA