What Are Some Benefits Of Postpartum Massage?
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Kaely Harrod 00:04
Welcome to doula Tips and Tits. This podcast is a place where we answer one question about doula work, both to support you and to help you support your clients. I'm Kaely Harrod. I've been supporting families in this perinatal space since my oldest was born 12 nearly 13 years ago. I am a birth and postpartum doula childbirth educator, La Leche League Leader and a doula coach. I love guiding and supporting doulas as they work out their doula business. It is a tremendous joy to be trusted in this way. Thank you for joining us on this journey. Hello, and welcome back to doula Tips and Tits. I am super excited to be wrapping up this series of providers with my dear friend and client and colleague Astra. She is here in the DC area and amazing massage therapist. And I got to work with her as her postpartum doula we're wrapping up soon, which makes me very sad. But we've become friends over that time. And just generally an all around amazing human being Astra, I would love for you to share with the listeners, how you kind of got into the work that you're doing now. And a little bit about you.
01:25
Hi, Kaely, I'm so happy to be here with you. And you are an amazing postpartum doula. It's been such a pleasure working with you and happy and your expertise and your humor and our house. It's been great. I went to school in a second New York at the Fingerlakes School of Massage over 15 years ago, and I have continued my interest in women's health afterwards. So I graduated in 2008 from the finger like school and Ethica. And I have studied with a variety of teachers, I ended up getting falling in love with Thai massage and traveling to Thailand to also study women's health and some of the ways that they use herbs and steaming and massage techniques to support pregnancy and also the postpartum time. I studied with teachers like Carol Osborne, and I've had a lot of mentors throughout the years. And I just loved the work. It's such a powerful, transitional, all encompassing time for people is a way to really offer support and therapy to people who really need it. And you can see the benefits right away. It's very tangible.
03:24
Yeah, and so I I've practiced in Africa, I've practiced in Philadelphia, I've studied in Thailand, and I've been in DC for almost seven years practicing here.
Kaely Harrod 03:39
Oh, we came to DC at the same time, I didn't realize that. We're coming up on our seven, seven year anniversary here. That's fun. So um, Astra is just coming off of parental leave after having her most recent little one. So I didn't even warn you about this, but it just came to mind. So you know, ask her you can be like, No, Kaylee, you weren't allowed to ask me. But you got some postpartum body work after the birth of her and how was that beneficial to you as a as a post partum person? And then what does that look like in terms? I mean, I think all of our own experiences, of course, inform our work, right, and how we show up for other people. So I'd love to hear about like some of your most recent how that kind of changed your postpartum time, if that makes sense. So
04:37
there's so much focus on the baby after it comes out. So like during the prenatal time. It's people tend to, you know, make more time for themselves because they have more time to get regular work done. And then once you give birth, in my experience, once you give birth, most of the attention goes right to the baby and how the baby is doing. And then everything in my life shifts more towards like, How is the baby doing. And so this time postpartum, this is my second time be having a baby. I really tried to be more intentional with focusing on my own self care my own, like bringing a community around me to help take care of me. And my first massage after giving birth, it just was so was so therapeutic because I felt nurturing. I was able to talk about my experience, and what is going on, like in my physical body, especially around just the aches and pains of feeding and not sleeping, and it gave me the chance to really rest. Yeah,
Kaely Harrod 06:24
I love that. Do you? Do you feel like your work with clients? is sort of like a, I don't know, a wraparound of sports. And what I mean, when I say that is, I can imagine that you're like, how are you doing when you have a freshly postpartum person, you know, because I can't imagine that people would feel safe telling you their birth stories and things like that, like, is that often the case with postpartum massage?
06:57
It is often the case, there's some information that I need to know just about, like what's going on physically with you. But it is usually an opportunity to just talk about your birth. So I don't you know, I don't require that as a part of our session, but I do allow that opportunity. And then we're able to ask questions, specifically about like, you know, the process of healing afterwards. Yeah, yeah.
Kaely Harrod 07:32
Do you have a particular technique that's different in the postpartum time? I think one of the things that my clients are sometimes hesitant of is when the postpartum time is new, and they're not sure what is safe or not safe. They're like, I don't know, I did that before. But can I do that now? Is there anything that people should know or that are that is like particular about how a postpartum massage should be done that makes it different or safer in some way.
08:07
So with my trading and experience, there's a couple of things that I always focus on with postpartum clients. And one of those is really kind of cranking up the heat. He is very indicated for helping to facilitate healing in the body. So I always warm the table, I make sure that the room is really nice and cozy. I use all my like oils are sentence that are pleasing to the client, I ask a lot of questions about any if there's any contraindications, but it's mostly about relaxation. Mm. And so we we can address really specific places in the body or we can just have a moment to rest. So like he did, and there's extra breast tissue and the chest. That's a sore area, I will usually sometimes it's the first time that somebody's laid on their stomach after giving birth. So kind of talk about some of the things that you may be able to do that you didn't think you could do like lay on your stomach. Sometimes that's uncomfortable because there's a scar or there's too much inflammation or engorgement that it's not comfortable, but most of the time, it's actually like a reprieve. It's Something that people are looking forward to after nipping in so I set it up so that that mat is really warm. It's also like laying on a heating pad. Just talk a little bit about like the, you know, how the hormones are regulating themselves. I mean, that's mostly it. Sometimes able to also offer herbal compresses, which is also in that line of like, heat it nurturing.
10:37
Yeah. Yeah.
10:39
So in terms of like, massage techniques are all like kind of similar. There are a lot of contraindications for massage and postpartum.
Kaely Harrod 10:53
Yeah. Do you want to dig into those a little bit? Like, how would someone know that they're not a good candidate for massage?
11:07
If that's a great question. If you have so what I usually tell people in terms of massage, like when can you get massage? When is it indicated or not indicated? When I offer a massage to somebody, it's very client centered and customized to your body. And so I'm not just giving you a blanket service. So I'm gonna ask you questions about, you know, kind of how your birth when, if there are any medical indications in terms of like high blood pressure, someone who has preeclampsia might not want to have deeper work or to increase circulation, they might be a little bit more sensitive to heat. In general, I tell people that they can come and get massage whenever they feel ready to. I am a big proponent that you stay in bed and rest for those first couple of weeks. So if you're having issues with mobility, like hitting your neck or your shoulders, and it's causing discomfort, and you're not able to rest easily at home, like that might be an indication that massage therapy would be helpful earlier than that. If you can get somebody to come to your house, you can get massage while you're having your baby, right after you're having your baby. The next day. And every day after that. When we're talking about like taking the metro or getting in a car or driving, my main concern is more of the transportation the commute to and from is more physically taxing than anything that we would do on the table. And so that's usually my indicator for when it's time to get massage. Some therapists will recommend that you wait until you stop bleeding. That is also a sign on sometimes in that time period of healing right after birth where it is indicated that you stay in bed and you rest and you do very little. You don't need to like not be bleeding when you get a massage. But I think it's more indicative of that time period of rest.
Kaely Harrod 14:24
No, that I mean, that makes a lot of sense. And I think I'm also very much a person who's like, how does it feel like does it feel like you're ready? Does it feel like you need it? Does it feel you know, to use kind of that that intuition to help you help guide you to know if you're ready for it. But also, I think massage has so many benefits that I'm like, yeah, it's it could be really really, really helpful. You know, if you're able to have it either financially able or or location, a bowl or whatever that looks like, you know, and having a sense of how it's helpful, rather than just thinking of it as like a treat, you know, that some people get so, yeah,
15:13
yeah, I think one of the biggest benefits to massage especially in that postpartum time is that we have these fleeting moments of rest in between feeds in between meals and between, like awake times and sleep times, and that like reset, that if you are able to practice relaxation, especially in a therapeutic setting, when you have those fleeting moments, it's much easier to transition into a place of downtime, and giving your body that like space and time to heal when you practice it. Well, and I
Kaely Harrod 16:07
love that, it can be incorporated as part of that setting your body up to relax and heal, right, because we both in labor, and also in postpartum, we talk about the work that it is we talk about, you know, like bringing back some of the muscle tone that you lost, potentially. And we rush into that without really allowing some of those systems to heal in a way that can have really long term impacts on our physical and mental health for the rest of our lives, you know, and so I do, yeah, like, I feel like massage is something that's like, luxurious in the sense that it is about you and for you. It's not something you're like doing for someone else, you know, and that's one of the big benefits in my mind is, is carving out space for yourself. And the physical benefits are massive. I love massage and think that it's super helpful. And also, I think, seeing ourselves as worthy of carving out time and necessary to carve out time for is a big piece of it, you know?
17:24
So absolutely, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I think that, that is the biggest benefit of massage like there are, you know, me as a technician can get really into the fascial adhesions and her body, making things work and function easier by clearing some of those adhesions manually out of the body. I love the technical work of moustache. But creating an environment that's warm and relaxing and inviting and accepting of all bodies, is so beneficial. It's really you can walk into the space and have this be your time it's about you. It's not about your baby, it's about what you just went through. And to also recognize that your rest and healing is a big part of recovery. Mm hmm. Yeah, a lot of times. As a technician, I see people in the year or two after their postpartum time where they're coming to me with injuries. exactly that, that were caused in the realm that you just discussed, where we don't have the opportunities to heal and rest and relax our system. Before we ask it to do more work before we asked you to like rebuild. And it causes all kinds of injuries, especially like in the pelvic floor and the diaphragm and the lower back in the hips and the glutes, and then actually, it is all connected. And it's also kind of understandable like in our culture. A lot of people spend that first year completely devoted to the development of their child. And then after a year are like, Oh, I guess I could get back to me. Right? That Also, that's also a postpartum massage. Yeah, like, it doesn't necessarily have to be like within that first six weeks or within that first three months. Postpartum massage is also the acknowledgement of this change in transitions that have happened in the body because of a pregnancy. I also tried to remind people to or incorporate this into my practice that postpartum massage can also be beneficial for someone who's had a loss. You may have carried a pregnancy for a short amount of time. And then your body will still have to reregulate hormonal II but also physically, and that sense of loss or grief is something that really benefits from taking the time to acknowledge and rest and heal. Um, I think, you know, in, in miscarriage and abortion, they're all also these physical the physical event of carrying, and so I don't, I don't want that population to also get lost, right? It's not, it's not even just about like, having a baby. It's about the change that happens because of pregnancy.
Kaely Harrod 21:35
Yeah, yep. I think that's really important, because that's especially a demographic that we rush past, you know, because we're like, you know, you're no longer pregnant. That's it, it's over, you know, and in every way, we do a great disservice to that particular group of people to not even just give their, you know, their, their experience space to be, you know, and to process it or anything, you no more kind of culturally like, Well, okay, that's fine. It's, it's good, it's fine. At least it was early, or whatever ridiculous things that we say that are, like, so unhelpful to be a whole nother conversation. Right. But I think especially thinking through some of the healing of like, your womb, right? Like, that's still happening when a pregnancy has happened inside the womb, you know, and that's a big piece of that postpartum time of letting your body recalibrate and heal and you know, reregulate things. So yeah, yeah. Yeah. I want people to be able to connect with you. So you Your information will be in the show notes. If you're in the DC area. Astra is one of our amazing massage therapists in this area. And you should go see her and send her clients and you send your clients to her for massage as well. Astra. Is there any last thoughts that you have that you wish doulas knew about referring for postpartum massage?
23:20
Yes, I think no, I am having to pause so much.
Kaely Harrod 23:29
That's okay. I think you're doing a man.
23:32
Thank you. I think that doulas should all be able to recognize with their clients that massage is able to address physical problems in the body. But that is also a time for healing and recovery. For the whole experience, yeah, yeah. And for taking that time to themselves for themselves. That doesn't necessarily have to be like an injury or a problem to have the benefits of massage therapy. It's also really helpful for breastfeeding and lactation whether or not you are trying to stop the flow of your milk or to increase the flow of your milk. But massage can also just help the body to regulate through those changes. So a lot of that hormone regulation is affected by stress in the body and physical stress. When we address the physical stress in our body and promote and practice relaxation, we can help create a more balanced atmosphere. A lot of times also with breaths Beating, or chest beating, there's a lot of stress in the neck and the shoulders and the arms that create restriction and the fascia around the breast tissue. And so it can help. Not only with like, let down but also find a more comfortable positioning in feeding. Yeah, and that is true, whether you're breastfeeding, chest feeding, bottle feeding, it's a lot of baby holding muscles. And I think all of though, like every person that's feeding a baby could really benefit from Yeah, promoting relaxation in their skeletal, muscular, skeletal muscular system in order to like have better posture to be able to like breathe and let things go and to bring their stress levels down a bit, can really help with like connecting with your baby. Finding uncomfortable positions for feeding. Yeah. Breathing into your body. Oh, that is really helpful. Yeah, there's a there's also a really big link to like diaphragmatic breathing and pelvic floor health that can be addressed in massage therapy, I don't do internal work. And I don't do assessments for pelvic floor dysfunction. But I can work with a physical therapist also help to promote relaxation in the body around issues that are coming up with pelvic floor health.
Kaely Harrod 26:44
Yeah, I love that. Because again, I feel like pelvic floor, we often talk about needing better tone after a birth or needing more strength after birth. But sometimes it is learning when to relax, and how to relax. And that's true in pregnancy as well. You know, like, when I breathe, my pelvic floor relaxes in this way, you know, like, even just that connection of like, this part of my body is also connected to that part of my body. Me doing something here that is really doable is something I can like start easing into my pelvic floor, having good movement and tone and all of that. We don't we don't always address those as a whole system. You know, we're just like, you deal with this thing. And you deal with this thing. And we separate everything out into small little bits, you know. So I love that.
27:39
I think that can be very helpful for a postpartum person to meet be able to meet all the connections like in their whole body. Yeah. If you're super stressed out in your quarters, and levels are really high. Like it's hard to have a letdown. It's hard to sleep, it's hard to breathe, it's hard to relax. And those are all the things that you are trying so hard to do. But really, sometimes it's about trying less, it's about taking deeper breaths. It's about actually sleeping, it's about resting or,
Kaely Harrod 28:15
yeah. And I mean, one thing I talk about in birth is that oftentimes, we can calm down your body when your brains still freaking out about something. That's also true. Like I was thinking when you were talking like, gosh, if someone is tense or stressed, and they don't recognize that that's also someone who has a hard time taking advantage of the pockets of sleep that are available to them, right because they either have a million other things they're thinking about or their body doesn't relax fast enough to really go into a deep sleep during that short stint of time, you know, and so some of that body work can also help to lower some of those stress levels when just being like be less stressed. You're like what is I think stressing out what's wrong? Well, ASTRA it has been lovely to have you on the podcast. Thank you so much for doing this. And if you're listening and you are in DC, please do connect with Astra. She is a gift to us here in the DC area. And I of course not at all biased towards her because she's your friend. All of these providers and like they're amazing. And you you shouldn't think anything otherwise because they are Astra, thank you.
29:46
It's a real privilege to do this work. I appreciate you in this community as well.
Kaely Harrod 29:52
Yeah, of course. Thank you. All right. I'll see everyone in the next episode. Thanks for joining us for this episode of the doula Tips and Tips podcast. If you learned something today or had an aha moment we'd love for you to share that on Instagram and tag us at Herat doula, so we can celebrate alongside you. If you found this podcast helpful, we would so appreciate you taking a second to leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast app that helps other doulas find us as we do this work together. This podcast is intended as educational and entertainment it is not medical advice or business advice. Please consult your own medical or legal team for your own needs around
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There are various ways in which massage can aid in the recovery and well-being of a freshly postpartum person! Including, but not limited to, reducing stress and anxiety, promoting relaxation, easing muscle tension, improving sleep, and boosting milk production. By incorporating postpartum massage into their postpartum care plan, your clients can experience a smoother transition into parenthood and a faster recovery from pregnancy and childbirth.
Today’s guest is extra special to me because she’s also my client and dear friend! I got connected with Astra earlier in 2023 as she was planning her postpartum care and I got to work with her for many months as her postpartum doula supporting her whole family in the transition to being a family of 4. She is also a fantastic massage therapist and today she joins us sharing that side of her awesomeness!
Quote from Astra:
“There's so much focus on the baby after it comes out. So like during the prenatal time. It's people who tend to, you know, make more time for themselves because they have more time to get regular work done. And then once you give birth, in my experience, once you give birth, most of the attention goes right to the baby and how the baby is doing. And then everything in my life shifts more towards things like, “How is the baby doing?" And so this time postpartum, this is my second time having a baby. I really tried to be more intentional with focusing on my own self care, like bringing a community around me to help take care of me. And my first massage after giving birth, it just was so therapeutic because I felt nurturing. I was able to talk about my experience, and what is going on, like in my physical body, especially around just the aches and pains of feeding and not sleeping, and it gave me the chance to really rest.”
OUR GUEST Astra Rooney:
Astra Rooney (she/they) is a DC based massage therapist and mother of two. She specializes in custom, prenatal and postpartum massage therapy. After graduating from The Finger Lakes School of Massage in Ithaca, NY Astra has continued to study techniques from around the globe. She brings a variety of modalities and 15 years of experience to offer you a client-centered approach to your therapeutic massage.
CONNECT with Astra:
website: https://astrarooney.com/
Book a Massage: https://astrarooney.com/booking-is-done-through-massagebook/
CONNECT with Kaely on TikTok or Instagram
https://www.tiktok.com/@doulacoach
https://www.instagram.com/Harroddoula/
If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me @harroddoula
Kaely Daily is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services
It is sponsored by The Birth Prep Blueprint Childbirth Class
Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay
