Can Any Licensed Massage Therapist Provide Postnatal Massage?
The answer is certainly no because a Therapeutic Massage Practitioner must be trained specifically in Postnatal Massage as there are many special contraindications and considerations, and in some municipalities and states, an LMT must have taken a certain number of credit-hours of education in this modality.
Training hands-on is essential, and the best way to learn is as an apprentice to a seasoned Perinatal Massage Therapist who has mastered the art over the course of decades.
“Yeah; There’s A Lot Of Money In That” -2014 S.N.L. Skit Character Played By Fred Armisen
Of course, some LMTs may offer these services, regardless of the fact that they lack specialized training. Why might this be the case?
In the medical field, commerce intersects with health and wellness. It’s a fact.
We all want to believe that it’s all altruism, but capital plays the central role.
The total market for Day Spas in the U.S. is a staggering $19.3 billion with about 22,000 massage spa locations, and the average turnover for each spa location being just shy of one million dollars, annually.
In the reality of Therapeutic Massage, we find many spas willing to arrange sessions for prenatal and postnatal women with LMTs who are not properly trained in Prenatal Massage or Postnatal Massage.
That should not be the case, but it is.
What Should I Ask About The Postnatal Massage Practitioner Before Our First Session?
And so, I wholeheartedly suggest inquiring about the Postnatal Massage Practitioner you’ve been arranged to have a session with.
You can ask how many years they’ve been practicing Perinatal Massage for. You probably can’t ask for their direct phone number.
You can ask where they studied Therapeutic Massage. You wouldn’t want to ask their political affiliations.
You can certainly ask where they received their training in Postnatal Massage. You probably can’t ask for their grades or G.P.A.!
Some Companies Provide On-The-Job Postnatal Massage Training
There are many Day Spas out there; it’s a lucrative business and the largest intersection of funds and massage.
That being the case, business-people being what they are, never want to turn down a session.
It’s true that Prenatal Massage is popular among American women, and so Day Spas get many requests for sessions from pregnant people.
Since this is the case, and since it’s also the case that spas get many requests from pregnant women, many businesses choose to provide training in Perinatal Massage at work.
Is this equivalent to taking a twenty or forty hour course in Prenatal and Postnatal Therapeutic Massage?
Really, who knows.
However, if I were going to receive any sort of medical treatments, whether complementary offerings like Perinatal Therapeutic Massage, or traditional treatments like Podiatry, I’d rather go with the person who was trained by the accredited school, or better yet, Massage CEU provider specializing in the pregnant and postpartum population, rather than a business offering some equivalent.
Some Massage Schools Provide Postnatal Massage Training. Most Do Not.
Practitioners of Therapeutic Massage who specialize in Perinatal Massage should, ideally, have some sort of Continuing Education Certification for completion of a course focusing on Prenatal and Postnatal Massage Therapy, as well as experience working with this population, and even better, having had hands-on training in a course, or ideally, worked alongside an experienced Perinatal LMT as an apprentice.
Universities offering a Health Services degree that can be used to apply for state licensure in Therapeutic Massage, as well as specialized Massage Therapy schools and trade schools offering Therapeutic Massage coursework, sometimes, though infrequently, provide a course, or module as part of a course, focusing on Prenatal and Postnatal Massage.
Really, we can say that being trained in a CEU setting by one of the Masters of Perinatal Massage, like Carol Osborne or Leslie Stager is probably going to be more effective than completing similar coursework in a college.
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Hello, friends. I’m happy to be back again. Today I’m writing about Postnatal Massage.
Again. I mean, it’s my specialization, as an LMT, or Licensed Massage Therapist.
