MotherMassage ®: Massage during Pregnancy

Date: May 4- May 6th, 2018.  9:00am to 6:00pm Friday and Saturday; and  8:30 am – 3:00pm on Sunday.

24 CEs

Throughout history, in tribal and traditional societies, massage was an integral part of a woman’s pregnancy, labor and postpartum experience. Typically, the women of the community gathered together to support her and her baby with herbal medicines, rituals, massage, physical and emotional support.

In this country, massage therapists and bodyworkers have an opportunity to encourage pregnant women to incorporate massage therapy into their prenatal, labor and postpartum care. Massage therapy offers the gravid woman a safe, nurturing and relaxing way to relieve the common discomforts she may be experiencing.

During the MotherMassage ®: Massage during Pregnancy professional certification workshop, you will learn the anatomy and physiology of pregnancy, labor and postpartum, as well as the skills and bodywork techniques necessary to massage your clients competently from their first trimester through labor and postpartum recovery. Hands-on work includes full body prenatal massage in five different positions: side-lying without turning the client; side-lying turning to the opposite side; side-lying to supine; sitting and using the bodyCushion System ™, labor support massage and postpartum massage therapy. Appropriate draping and practitioner body mechanics are discussed. Hand-saving massage techniques are explored. We address high risk pregnancy care and the contraindications and precautions of prenatal massage are discussed in detail.

A variety of bodywork systems, such as Swedish massage, acupressure, trigger point therapy, deep tissue, muscle energy techniques, myofascial release, reflexology, proprioception, strain/counterstrain, etc are used.

This three-day course is generally held from 9:00am to 6:00pm Friday and Saturday; and  8:30 am – 3:00pm on Sunday. Times are subject to change to accommodate travel plans and facilities. 24 CEs are granted from  FL and NY Boards of Massage, and NCBTMB (Category A provider). This course is open to all advanced massage students, professional massage therapists and bodyworkers, childbirth educators, nurse-midwives, lay-midwives, doulas, physical therapists, obstetricians and labor support coaches. All non-massage professionals must have basic massage skills as a prerequisite to this course.

A student manual is distributed electronically for students to print out and bring to class. Professional certification is awarded after completing the course, passing a take-home exam with at least 80% and validated proof that you have massaged two different pregnant women (Letters of Receipt of Service are included.)

You must pay in full at the time of registration. The cost of the class is $425.00 for early registration and $500.00 for late registration – within 2 weeks of the class. If you are taking this class a second time, $25.00 per day will be discounted. A copy of your certificate is required for this discount. You must also purchase a copy of Prenatal massage: a textbook of pregnancy, labor, and postpartum bodywork (Stillerman, Mosby, 2008) before the first day of class. Most host school’s bookstores carry the book. It is also available on-line at www.elsevierhealth.com or Amazon.

Participants are also required to bring two large and two small towels, four sheets, two standard size pillows and one small pillow, unscented lubrication and a notebook to class each day. If you are able to provide a pregnant volunteer for Saturday morning’s practicum, please advise the host school.

The developer and instructor of MotherMassage ® is Elaine Stillerman, LMT. Licensed in New York since 1978, Stillerman began her pioneering work with pregnant women in 1980. She has been teaching the professional certification course “MotherMassage ®” at prestigious massage schools, spas and resorts across the country since 1990. She has written four books, MotherMassage: A Handbook For Relieving the Discomforts of Pregnancy (Dell, 1992) and The Encyclopedia of Bodywork (Facts On File, 1996), Prenatal Massage: A Textbook of Pregnancy, Labor and Postpartum Bodywork (Mosby, 2008), and Modalities for Massage and Bodywork (Mosby, 2nd ed, 2015). She has written numerous articles for magazines and journals and her work has been featured in dozens of national magazines. She has appeared on numerous local and national television and radio programs.

In 2013, Elaine was the inaugural recipient of AFMTE’s “Educator of the Year” Award and was inducted into the World Massage Festival’s “Massage Hall of Fame”.