As a Postnatal Massage Therapist working in the state of New Jersey, I am aware of only a couple of instances where a healthy care provider had told a postpartum patient who was in perfect health and didn’t have any prenatal complications, even, that Postpartum Therapeutic Massage is off-limits because Postpartum Therapeutic Massage is unsafe.
However, if it has happened even once, it’s worth discussing.
And, if I’ve encountered this twice in twenty years, it’s surely happened many more times over the same period of time, considering all the other perinatal LMTs out there.
I can say with certainty that Postpartum Massage is safe and efficacious when performed by an LMT trained in this modality.
How do I know?
Well, there are tons of studies supporting this claim.
And, beyond that, there are all the anecdotal accounts of LMTs and patients, decades of accounts, actually.
And, it’s considered a valid complementary post-partum modality by health researchers, hospitals, insurers, nurses, and doctors.
So, if a doctor or midwife or nurse practitioner is telling you that you can’t ever get Postnatal Massage, and you have no complications, it’s time to remember that you have Health Agency.
You can question them. You can present studies.
You can change their minds. Or not.
You can even disobey, though your doctor may decide they no longer want you as a patient.
We don’t recommend taking this approach, though it’s entirely your right.
We recommend just trying to reason with them, respectfully and patiently, relying on evidence and science.
