Postnatal Massage NJ

Postnatal Massage Sweeps New Jersey! The Story.

Why wasn’t Postnatal Massage as popular in the past in the state of New Jersey as it’s become now?

It’s all about one word:

DEMOGRAPHICS

Right now, the number of New Jersey residents who are of Asian ancestry is steadily rising.

New Jersey is a good place to live, and Asian families are coming from N.Y.C., other parts of the U.S., and from Asia, to live in this incredibly beautiful state.

New Jersey has always been multicultural, and Asian enclaves have always existed, but Asian culture is now a big part of New Jersey’s identity.

And, Postpartum Massage is a significant part of both South Asian, and East Asian, culture.

While the systems of health philosophy is Asia differ, from Ayurveda in India to Traditional Chinese medicine, all Asian traditional medicine considers proper postnatal care to be essential.

And,  a component of that postnatal care is, invariably,  Postpartum Massage.

Postnatal Massage In NJ: In The Past, It Wasn’t A Thing

In the past, not as many people who lived in New Jersey were of Asian ancestry.

And so, while Postnatal Massage was common within these sub-populations, these Asian-American communities were smaller, and therefore had less influence regarding the larger culture.

Postnatal Massage in New Jersey just wasn’t popular yet, beyond these, sometimes insular, communities.

Many of the people living in the state were just thought of as “Americans,” not identifying with any specific non-American ethnic culture or tradition, with deep roots in the United States going back generations, regardless of whether they were of European, Asian, African, Caribbean, South American, or any other ancestry from anywhere else around the globe.

Many Americans were of mixed heritage, and some even had Native American ancestry, to a small degree.

Their culture was “American,” and that’s as far as it went.

While this is true, there were still many ethnic people who identified with a sub-group like Indian, Korean, Chinese, Italian, Jewish, Greek, Polish, Irish, Russian, and more, each retaining some of their culture from their country of origin, and in the end contributing their own culture to the American Melting Pot.

They shared their food with us, their ideas, their cool fashions, their jewelry (Italian gold at 18K, Indian at 22K!), and so much more.

Postnatal Massage NJ: European-Americans Lost Touch With Their Traditions

Some cultures are better-preserved in the United States than others, owing to all sorts of different factors.

It’s a more amazing America where everyone retains their family’s culture from their nation of origin.

Why? It’s not about pride; it’s about practicality.

There are so many aspects of culture and what each culture can offer us and teach us is incredible.

But what about traditional dress? Why do some the people of some cultures keep their way of attire, while others do not?

Some Indian women who’ve come here from India continue to enjoy wearing a sari; others just go with the flow and “dress American.”

Many choose to do both.

Really, it’s a personal choice.

The Americans whose ancestors came here from Europe generations ago didn’t keep to their traditional attire, probably because there was less appreciation of “foreign” cultures at the time, if not open downright disdain and hatred.

And so, they chose to “blend in.”

In most European lands, to this day, no one blinks an eye if you decide to come to work dressed in your particular nation’s traditional attire one random day.

And, there are even specific national cultural holidays when most people dress in clothes that are from their ethnic tradition.

It’s very interesting that this has endured in Europe, but not at all in the United States.

Each European country has a traditional garb that  is distinct, and each is drastically different from contemporary European clothing, by far!

Immigrants from Europe, coming to the United States, gave up their traditional attire.

But the amazing cuisine, including dinners and desserts continued, as well as many other aspects of ethnic culture in America, influencing contemporary American culture in the 20th century.

While the various contemporary European peoples also widely practice Postnatal Massage, Americans of European ancestry do not carry on this practice, nor has there really been much interest in Postpartum Massage in recent decades among this group, unlike Prenatal Massage, which has become quite popular in the media and popular culture, helping to spread awareness of its many benefits.

Allopathic Medicine Replaces Other Systems In The U.S. In The 20th Century

It could be that the practice of Postpartum Massage, as well as Infant Massage, was performed by a woman working as a doula or midwife, and as modern allopathic medicine replaced traditional ways of dealing with wellness and health, this role was abandoned in ethnic European enclaves in the United States, early in the twentieth century, replaced by a hospital birth directed by an ob-gyn.

It literally became a crime to be a midwife, and so, I suppose if Postnatal Massage was also what midwives, or postnatal care professionals  did, then Postnatal Massage was also certainly “out.”

As allopathic medicine supplanted existing schools of thought regarding health that were popular in the United States at the time, like homeopathy, osteopathy, herbal medicine, and more, we can surely wonder if this wasn’t a key factor.

Postpartum Massage In NJ? No; Only Back In Europe!

For some reason, when the vast numbers of people of European ancestry came to the United States, they shed most of their health traditions.

Like their love for sauna.

Perhaps because the Health Care practices maintained by oral tradition in Europe were not codified and well-defined like Asian health care ideas were,  the traditions faded quickly?

Perhaps in the social era when  countless European families arrived in the United States, the early twentieth-century, they were shunned for holding onto their cultural traditions, beyond the cooking and religion, and thus decided to just forget it all?

And, because of that, they chose to “assimilate” and give up many of their traditions, including teaching their native tongue to their children?

It wasn’t out of shame, it was out of the need to survive the harsh social climate existing in that day that pointed a finger at “the other.”

The only people I’ve ever met with saunas in their yards or basements were literally immigrants from Europe, or their children, to be honest.

If you’re American and of European descent, but not actually of European birth or a child of a European, then you probably don’t have a (real, not infrared!) sauna at your home!

And, you probably don’t make homemade wine or pickles or vinegar or bread or grow a vegetable garden with veggies from your native land.

Yes; people from Europe do all this, including making sauces, tapenades, preserves, cookies, and cakes.

People from Asia do all that, too.  Seriously.

Postnatal Massage NJ? Non-Asian People Choose Prenatal Massage, Not Postnatal.

Now, this gets interesting.

People who are New Jerseyans of Asian culture,  whether they were born in the U.S.A., or they’ve just arrived last year,  go with Postnatal Massage at a  far greater frequency than they go for a Prenatal Massage session.

People who are non-Asian New Jerseyans,  go with Prenatal Massage at far greater frequency than they go for a Postnatal Massage session.

And, there is little cross-over.

People of Asian ancestry and culture choose to do the exact opposite that American non-Asians do!

Why is this so?

Again, it’s the health traditions; Asian Traditional Health Care systems place a strong emphasis on healing after childbirth and preparing for lactation.

In The U.S., Prenatal Care Is The Big Focus Right Now. Postnatal Care? It’s Growing. Slowly.

The American tradition of Prenatal Massage developed in the last four decades on the East and West Coast, due to women like Carole Osborne, RN, who popularized the incredibly, well-studied Therapeutic Massage modality.

Carol Osbourne, NR, Leslie Stager, RN, and other trailblazers, helped remove the misplaced stigma from Touch Therapy for Pregnant Women.

American culture now focuses more on the pregnancy phase, than postnatal, without a doubt.

And, pregnancy gets a lot of press, and being pregnant is being considered a respected choice in pop culture.

While it’s an amazing development that our wider American culture appreciates pregnancy so much more now than just a few decades ago,  and cares so much about the welfare of pregnant women, it’s time that we begin understanding the implications of the postpartum phase and why it’s important not to neglect the Mom (or infant) during this time.

Many people now know that the postpartum phase is really the “fourth trimester,” a silly way popular culture explains it, ludicrous  because something divided into three cannot have four parts!

However, it’s apt, and helps families, employers, and everyone really, to comprehend that the Postpartum Time is significant, in fact as much so as the pregnancy, itself.

Some women have to go back to work in a soon as six weeks after giving birth. That is difficult, but also reflects our attitudes toward women after they give birth.

Postnatal Massage In NJ Not As Popular As Lactation Counseling

It seems that working with a Lactation Professional in New Jersey is now more common, and many women choose this option, but Postnatal Massage,  specifically, is lagging.

As a Lactation Professional, I thank the talk shows and magazines for spending time, and ink,  letting women know about Lactation Counseling.

I know the lactation help I provide to families is priceless, and I am awed that a baby’s life and ability to thrive are intrinsically related to their breastfeeding activities, and we can do so much to improve that activity, it’s amazing.

Prenatal And Postnatal Massage In NJ For All Women In Future?

In the future, it’s my hope that all women begin to appreciate all phases of the experience of having a baby, from the prenatal phase to the postpartum.

A cultural crossover is well overdue!

“Yin and Yang” do have meaning in Chinese philosophy and culture; it’s not just a case of sad over-borrowing of a sacred symbol in marketing and advertising.

The prenatal and postnatal phases of life are a sort of Yin and Yang, in that they are contrasting aspects of the experiencing of bringing a child into this world:

Before Childbirth and After

We need an appreciation of both to get it right!

Thank you for your time, dear reader. I truly appreciate you.