After the excitement of discovering you are pregnant you maybe starting to think about creating a healthy programme for yourself and your baby but although pregnancy is an exciting time it can cause so many challenges in your body as it adjusts to the hormonal, emotional and physical changes. So why should mum’s to be have reflexology and is it safe?
Safety
Obviously when your pregnant you want to be sure that everything you do is safe for both you and your baby. Reflexology is considered safe throughout pregnancy as long as you let your reflexologist know that you are pregnant and always make sure your reflexologist is qualified to treat you. There is no evidence to suggest that reflexology can cause a miscarriage but as miscarriages are more common in the first term of pregnancy some reflexologists aren’t prepared to treat clients but I have worked with many mum’s to be during the early stages and they have found the treatment to be both deeply relaxing and beneficial with those early symptoms such as morning sickness.
Eases Aliments
Reflexology has also been shown to help ease those niggles that mums to be suffer. As well as the emotional benefits, it can help with constipation, morning sickness, heartburn, anaemia, and those general aches and pains. As your baby grows is puts more and more pressure on your spine and pelvis which causes discomfort, reflexology can help manage that pain, a study has shown that 6 weekly treatments of reflexology prior to giving birth on women who experienced low back/pelvic pain during pregnancy, the pain significantly reduced. Reflexology also works on the lymphatic system so if you are experiencing swollen ankles it is able to drain that fluid leaving you feeling more comfortable.
Post- Natal Benefits
Once your baby has arrived your hormones go into overdrive leaving the mother exhausted from the birth, and both physically and emotionally traumatised not to mention sleep deprived. Reflexology can help ease the anxiety felt by mothers and will certainly help you with any post-natal problems by re-balancing hormones, aiding sleep, and has shown to help breastfeeding mums by improving their milk production.
Reflexology is an hour just for you, this self-care is beneficial to you and your baby as a relaxed mum means a happy baby and the only way to know if it’s going to work for you is to try it!