Our infant massage classes start Monday November 7th and run for 5 weeks. the next session will start in January! Please email the site for further information. Body in Balance Center has been teaching infant massage for more than 5 years and we fully participate in only offering InfantMassage USA certified teachers!
The History Behind Infant Massage
Our sense of touch is the first sense that we develop in utero, it starts at seven weeks and skin is the first organ to be completed. A piece of skin the size of a quarter contains 3 million cells, 100 to 340 sweat glands, 50 nerve endings, three feet of blood vessels and the number of sensory fibers, from the skin entering the spinal cord by posterior root, is well over half a million.
Swaddling babies against the skin dates back to hunter-gather, some 10,000 years ago. Mothers would sling babies on their backs and keep them close to their skin while they gathered food. Ancient civilization believed that one way to promote health and prevent disease was by rubbing, stroking and kneading the body. It was not a luxury item, it was necessary to sustain wellbeing for everyone.
Christianity placed more importance on the spiritual self and to deny the cravings of the physical self and that philosophy held fast until the renaissance in the 1500s. The renaissance brought back an interest in the body and health of the physical structure, when physicians began to integrate massage into their practices. So touch, and its importance, is old and well practiced, even if it is unfamiliar to you.
At the turn of the century in this country, parents were encouraged to “master his schedules”. The theory was that parents should leave the room when the baby would cry and feed the baby by the clock. Rushing to a baby when it cried spoiled the child. Allowing the mother and baby to find a mutual routine was out.
What benefits does massage have for everyone:
- Relaxation
- Relief
- Interaction
- Stimulation
Stimulation:
Skin sensitivity is the earliest developed function. Studies of mammals who are lovingly stroked grow up as touchable, friendly and fearless. They are fatter fluffier, more bright eyed and have easy, happy dispositions. In addition, gentle handling actually improves stability of the nervous system and resistance to disease.
So what does infant massage do for humans?
It speeds myelination of the brain/nervous system. The myelin sheath is a fatty covering around each nerve like insulation around an electrical wire. It protects the nervous system and speeds transmission of impulses from the brain to the body. Myelination is not complete at birth, stimulation speeds this process.
In premmies, mssage has been shown to stimulate the respiratory, circulatory, and gastrointestinal system and it enhances neurological development. For babies who are in distress it gives them a calming effect and sense of relaxation. It offers gassy bellies and constipated babies stimulus for better elimination.
Stress is the way intelligence grows! Stress hormones stimulate the production of neuronal pathways. When we release ACTH, which is a stress hormone, the body and brain go into “alert” and massive numbers of new connecting links are established for learning and memory. Before birth the baby’s body is flooded with ACTH in preparation for the stress of birth and the necessity of massive learning afterward.
Tactile contact, eye contact and heartbeat sounds are three important signals the baby receives from its mother after birth, which says to the baby’s brain “It’s okay, now you can stop producing ACTH. It’s time to open up and experience.” This is a perfectly timed and developed sequence in nature.
But in many hospital settings this action does not have the ability to happen. Modern medicine has created a great service, it saves many lives and provides a physically healthy start, but the maternal bond gets turned down or off when babies have extended stays in hospitals. Our basic bonding is sometimes lost in the beginning.
What does Infant massage do for parent/ baby connection:
Bonding is a unique relationship between two people that is specific and endures through time”. Researchers sited cuddling, kissing and prolonged gazing as indicators of the developing bond. Bonding is a process not an event. It is a matter of reciprocal interaction and each partner has a role in facilitating healthy bonding, be it partners in life or parents to their children. It is a dance that builds trust and intimacy.
Babies bond through eye contact and touch bringing them physically closer to you. Through skin to skin contact, nursing touching babies help release hormones in the mother which help stimulates postpartum healing, helps builds the mother’s milk supply and allows the mother to relax and respond appropriately to her baby. A baby’s touch releases the mother’s cuddle hormone, known as Oxytocin, which allows her to bond non verbally with her baby.
But what about Dad? Does he have the bonding quality like mom? Indeed! A father’s touch is equally important, but different from a mother’s bonding experience, and a father’s touch is a vital part of babies introduction to the world!
Touch relaxation involves teaching parents how their baby can relax and release tension. In utero, each infant has a complete and individual repertoire of body movements that synchronize with speech or sound. When a baby is born those sounds are given emotional overlays through interaction with a caregiver. It is a conditional response, which is learned through the repetition of consistent messaging communicated to the baby with the parents’ voice, eye contact and touch. Once a baby is born, touch will be a primary sense for establishing what kind of person they will become.
Physically what you will see from massage:
- Calm parent and calm baby
- Better sleep
- Increases speed of myelination
- Helps bridge parent/child relationship
- Quiet alert state longer
- Improves weight gain
- Feeling love and attachment
- Develops emotional security
- Parent and caregivers become better advocate for baby
- As you understand your baby’s physical needs you will become a better advocate for them at the Pediatricians.
- Role of Dad improving communication and understanding of baby