What started out as a normal pregnancy massage revealed a great dis-service to women.

A first time mother, new to the area, going to a local hospital to have her baby.  She’s living a great distance from her family, so her support network is limited.  During her pre-natal classes, she became even more distressed.  She has just been told she will be discharged from the hospital 3 hours after she gives birth – 5 at the most.  She tells me she’s concerned about the car ride home and not really knowing what to do.  She is also concerned she will be alone with only her husband to help her in the early days.  What’s interesting about this story, is she’s not the first to tell me this. It’s also interesting she’s not scared of labour or the pain.  She’s worried about where she’s having the baby.

When a post natal mother told me of her birth and post birth experience, I was saddened.  She’d had a prolonged labour, her baby was in posterior position, she’d been induced and eventually, due to exhaustion and extreme pain, her baby was born by cesarean section.  48 hours later, after much confusion, she was discharged.  She was struggling with breastfeeding, her incision wound was becoming infected and was feeling miserable.  3 days after being discharged, she gave up breastfeeding.   As she had moved to the area not long before her baby was born, she came home to little family support and no social connections.

My story you’ve heard, but it’s not unlike these two.  I spent my entire pregnancy freaking out.  Labour was the least of my worries.  I live away from my family, having moved to the city from the country.  I didn’t really know my neighbours.  My in-laws and friends all worked.  In those early days, I had no idea what I was doing, nor who I could turn to for help.  I was very lucky in some ways.  When my daughter was 6 weeks old, I fell to pieces.  My parents were 4 hours away.  My husband was at work and without a car.  My parents in-law were at work and my brother in law didn’t have a car or license.  The earliest any of these people could have got to me was an hour.  All my friends were at work except one.  She had recently resigned her job in preparation to return to study, and was house sitting around the corner from me.  She took my call and was able to help me.  She came to my aid without judgement or expectations.  She held my daughter while I ate some lunch.  She talked to me about stuff.  She brought me back from the brink.  To this day, I believe she saved both my daughters and my life.  I was lucky.

Why am I telling you these stories?  Because I believe pregnant women and new mums are being treated badly.  Not just by the hospitals but in general.  Women are returning home (and rapidly) with new babies, without support.  More and more, I finding my clients telling me similar stories of having little or no support in the early weeks post birth.  They are scared and don’t have social and family reassurance that previous generations had.  Many are the first amongst their friends and family to have children and don’t have experience with babies or what to expect when pregnant.    Sometimes all they need is someone to explain what’s happened or happening.  A chat with the local breastfeeding association informed me the area I work and live in has the lowest breastfeeding rates in Melbourne.  I always thought is was because of cultural and family influences or lack of support once they get home.  Perhaps not.  Maybe it’s because the new mums and bubs aren’t getting the help they need in the beginning.  Maybe the incidence of post natal depression would be lower if there were support programs in place. 

I’m looking for answers and suggestions.  Please leave a comment as to where you found help and support.  Maybe we can help someone without even knowing them.

I know I’ve been MIA for a little bit.  It’s because I’ve been busy.

Between clients, planning for a big thing coming up and family, I lost track of time.

So I’ll tell you about what I’ve done this morning.  I made soup.  According to Little Miss, soup fixes everything.

So here’s today’s soup recipe.

Thai inspired sweet potato and pumpkin soup.

1 large sweet potato

500gms of Butternut pumpkin

1 stick of lemongrass

1 medium onion

1 bunch of coriander

1 knob of ginger

2 cups of stock

1 small can of coconut milk

Spray of cooking oil.

Chop up the onion, lemon grass, ginger and the roots and stems of the coriander finely.

Cube the sweet potato and pumpkin.

Spray pot with the cooking oil.  Fry off the onion, lemon grass, ginger, coriander roots.  Add the pumpkin and potato and cook until slightly coloured.

Add stock plus a little extra water.  Simmer until pumpkin and potato are soft.  Add coconut milk and blitz with a stick blender until really smooth.

Add the coriander leaves and serve.

Very tasty.  You can also add in some chili if you wish.

Enjoy.

See here for more details.

http://handprintmassage.com/blog/2010/05/27/exclusive-offer/

My clients are my inspiration.  The more I talk to and see them, the more ideas and inspiration I have. 

Lately there has been a common theme weaving through my clients and it’s one I can’t ignore.  It’s the lack of community and support new mums experience.  It could be something as simple as wanting people around with similar backgrounds to share familiar experiences to needing someone to listen without judgement whilst they tell their birth story.  Sometimes we just need to hear we are doing the right thing.  Maybe they just need a bit of TLC and a hug.

There also seems to be much misinformation and myth floating around new motherhood too.  The worst part is sometimes is completely contradicts itself.  This is really bad when you’ve had no sleep and feeling desperate.

So I’m doing a bit more research and need your help.  What were your greatest needs after having your baby?

Em.

Yesterday was footy.  Again we lost but on the bright side, we only had one injury in the seniors.  Yay.  Sadly and most embarrassing was the fact one of the trainers was injured.  And can you guess who it was?  Yep, me.  What made it even worse was it was one of our team that caused it.  With sitting on the boundary comes with a certain amount of bodily risk and as it was I’d already nearly been run over, but it wasn’t until the last quarter when a fluke of a kick lead to a beautiful arc and the ball landing on my knee, leaving me with a whopping big bruise.  After the game the only person with ice on was me.

Today was a better day.  I had a wonderful post natal client.  She has a beautiful baby boy and apparently had been hanging out for a massage.  More than happy to oblige.  We also talked about the amount of time spent in hospital after the birth of your baby and how wonderful some of the midwives are.  It got me thinking about mum’s who don’t get the 5 star private hospital experience and how they get sent home with a new baby so very very quickly before reality has set in and without a whole lot of support.

Still, another fabulous week ahead of me with more wonderful clients.

Talk again soon.

Em.

I’ve updated some of the information and inserted some of the new photos.

Enjoy.

Em.

www.handprintmassage.com

Imagine what that would feel like…………………..

The next generation of massage table PLG3000 takes your remedial massage experience to the next level and my clinic is ordering it RIGHT NOW!

BE one of the first lucky 5 to get access to the BRAND NEW and EXCLUSIVE massage experience at my clinic.

Reserve YOUR hour of absolute relaxation and bliss NOW!  Call 0409 235 613 to take up your spot.  Take up one of our wonderful package offers and you will not only be one of the first to try the new massage table, but will also recieve a series of surprise gifts.

PS.  It’s www.handprintmassage.com 1st birthday today.

Today I’m going to fill you in on how I became a Massage Therapist.

In September 2000,I was teaching music and was in a car accident.  During impact, my shoulder crashed up against the side pillar of my car and injured the joint.  I was in a great deal of pain and saw a friend who was a massage therapist the following day.  He worked on my shoulder and eased a great deal of the pain.  I regularly saw a massage therapist after until my shoulder recovered.

Over the next few years, the idea of being a massage therapist was lurking in the back of my mind until in 2003 I decided to take a basic massage course to see if I liked it.  I didn’t like it.  I loved it.

At the end of the introduction course, I asked for an application to study for the Diploma of Remedial Massage.  I chose to study part-time at night, which when I enrolled would take me two years to complete.  At some stage during the course, the school decided it would be better if the part timers completed the course in three years.  So at the end of 2006 I finished the course.

At that point I had planned on working as a massage therapist part time and working my normal job during the day for a year, returning to study the following year.  What I didn’t know was that I was pregnant and the rest is history.

I love my work and my clients and I’m very glad I took the chance on a completely different career.

Em.

I need some help.  I’m looking to put together a bit of a ”what you can do for your pain until you get in for a massage” type guide and I was wanting some suggestions of pain that you’ve experienced.

So far on my list I have neck pain, aching shoulders, low back pain and sore feet.  What else should be on the list?

Em.