Are Pregnancy Massages Safe? We Break It Down By Trimester
As registered massage therapists with training in prenatal care, nothing pumps us up like spreading the word about prenatal massages and how they’re safe throughout pregnancy.
But even though we hope our experience and training lets you feel safe trusting us, we also never want you to just take our word for something when it comes to your health. We’re thrilled that you’re here doing your research and asking questions because A) you have every right to and B) we encourage you to be as informed as possible about your prenatal care.
In this post, we’ll share in detail all the ways registered massage therapists are trained to keep you safe during your prenatal massages while answering all your pregnancy massage therapy FAQs. In other words, we’ll share the answers every pregnant parent…kneads. (Don’t hate us for the pun! 😉)
Prenatal Massage 101
First thing’s first: What is a prenatal massage? Simply put, a prenatal massage is a massage for a pregnant person. But, your prenatal massage won’t be exactly like other massages you've had before. There are some pretty important differences and distinctions to be made.
Pregnant bodies are, of course, different than non-pregnant bodies. (I think we can all agree on that!) There are internal differences, like the fact that your blood volume—and sometimes blood pressure—changes throughout pregnancy. There are external differences, like the fact that you have a bump now! And, there are emotional differences, like how you may feel nervous, protective, or straight-up anxious about the baby you’re growing. A registered massage therapist takes all of those differences into consideration and knows how to adapt your massage to your new and evolving needs. They’ll keep you physically safe, of course! But the really good ones know how to make sure you feel safe emotionally, too.
Massage Adaptations for Pregnant Folks
A few key adjustments turn traditional, face-down massages into pregnancy-friendly ones. These tweaks, modifications—whatever you want to call them!—are safe, intentional, and designed to ensure that your massage feels good to you.
One of the ways we do this is by using special pregnancy pillows, or regular pillows arranged in pregnancy-supporting ways. These pillows make it perfectly safe for you to lie face up, face down, and on your side without any undue risk of discomfort. They also make space for growing breasts and bellies and support any areas that hold tension from the extra weight.
Another way we keep you safe and comfy is by checking in with you often and giving you tons of opportunities to change positions. Most 1-hour massages will have you in all three positions (face up, face down, and side-lying), because we know it’s probably not going to be comfortable for you to stay in one position for that long.
Pregnancy Massages: Are They Safe?
Prenatal massage therapy is completely safe throughout pregnancy as long as you book with a registered massage therapist, your doctor hasn’t told you to avoid massage, and your pregnancy hasn’t been deemed “high-risk”. Prenatal massages are also safe if you are high-risk, but your doctor has specifically approved massage therapy.
You may face risks by getting a prenatal massage from a practitioner who isn’t properly trained. But this is easily avoided by specifically seeking out treatment from a registered massage therapist (RMT). This way, you can relax knowing you’re perfectly safe because all RMTs are trained with a base knowledge of safe and effective massage therapy techniques and positions for pregnancy. And if you find an RMT with specific prenatal training? Bonus points! You’re in even more capable hands.
There are also risks associated with certain acupressure points on the body that should be avoided during pregnancy. (This is why you may have picked up on some societal messages of fear around getting a massage or acupuncture during this time!) Specifically, two points on the ankle are known to induce labour and “expedite delivery”. But, these are points that would need to be needled or pressed intentionally to have an effect on you—accidentally or gently touching them won’t do anything. They’re also not what we’d consider part of a “muscular area”, and they wouldn’t be the cause of any calf pain or issues. So a registered massage therapist wouldn’t treat them, even unintentionally, and any RMT with prenatal training would know to specifically avoid them.
(All the practitioners at Capria Care Collective have the specific prenatal training and equipment needed to make sure that your pregnancy treatment is safe, effective, and super comfortable!)
Prenatal Massage Therapy In Each Trimester
If you’ve been pregnant before or are right now, you probably know that each trimester brings its own set of feelings, experiences, aches, pains, and discomforts. So it makes sense that your concerns, comfort, and questions about massages would change as the months go by. Let’s break down what you can expect from a prenatal massage during each trimester!
Prenatal Massage In The First Trimester
During the first trimester, your prenatal massage will be similar to any “regular” massages you’ve had before. Because you probably aren’t rocking much of a bump yet, we can still safely treat you lying face down or face up. It’s unlikely we’d have you lie on your side.
But just because you can receive treatment in those more typical body positions doesn’t mean you have to! We’ve treated pregnant patients who had tender breast tissue during the first trimester and kept them comfortable by using a pregnancy cushion setup that alleviated any pressure on their breasts. So if you do have aches, pains, or concerns in the first trimester, just let us know! We’re always happy to adapt your treatment to keep you feeling safe and comfy.
Prenatal Massage In The SECOND Trimester
Prenatal massage in the second trimester will generally have you doing a mix of lying face-down, supported by a pregnancy cushion, and lying face-up in a semi-seated position (so you’re on your back but propped up by 4 or 5 pillows, and for no longer than 15 minutes at a time). Lying face-down with cushions works well until about 30 weeks when we’ll switch you over to side-lying positions. (Earlier if you’re carrying multiples or have specific discomfort with lying on your front.)
To help us figure out how to best treat your aches and discomforts, talk to us before we get started. Tell us about any pain you’re experiencing. Hit us with the “Is this normal?” questions and feel free to unload your “I don’t know if this is something, but…” concerns. That way, during your massage, we’ll be able to use the best positions available to treat the specific concerns you’ve shared.
Prenatal Massage In The THIRD Trimester
Third-trimester prenatal massages are super similar to those of the second trimester. Tell us what you need support with most, and we’ll figure out the best possible positions that keep you comfy while allowing us to access the areas giving you grief.
The only real difference is that, after 30 weeks, lying face down—even on the pregnancy pillow—is generally discouraged, so unless you tell us you’re SURE it’s okay for you (you know your body best), we’ll recommend switching to side-lying or semi-seated with 5 or 6 pillows propping you up.
Pregnancy Massage Safety FAQs
By now, you know that pregnancy massage is safe, throughout pregnancy, in general. So, let’s get specific. If you have questions like, “Are there certain types of massage to avoid?”, “Are there certain positions I should skip?” and “What if I’m nervous about massage in early pregnancy?” you’re about to get your answers!
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A: Yes, back massages are completely safe during pregnancy as long as you’re seeing a registered massage therapist and have a pregnancy pillow or pregnancy-safe pillow arrangement to support you.
When pillows are properly utilized, you can lie face down on a pregnancy cushion or on your side, bolstered by a series of pillows. Both positions allow your RMT to access your back while making sure nothing is digging into you.
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A: Yes! Pregnancy massage, like all massage therapy treatments, is highly specific to each parent’s needs and pain. No treatment is the same because no parent has the same pain as another. So we need to be able to safely massage your whole body! (It wouldn’t be that helpful if all we could massage was, say, your feet when what’s hurting are your shoulders and upper back.) And again, the logistics of a full-body pregnancy massage just come down to those pregnancy pillows! We prenatal massage therapists love them. And after you experience your first prenatal massage, you will, too!
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A: Yes, massage is safe during early pregnancy. You are welcome to book massages in all stages and trimesters of your pregnancy. We’d even go so far as to recommend that you do!
Regular massages throughout pregnancy set you up to have the…let’s say “least uncomfortable” pregnancy possible. (Because massage alone won’t take away all the fun things you’ll experience, like nausea. Although we WISH we could do that for you!) And sometimes, early treatment is actually best. It can allow us to take care of any pre-existing pain you have—like that nagging neck pain that keeps coming back—and establish a baseline of how your body feels before taking on any aches, pains, and strains that come with a growing bump in trimesters two and three.
All that said, we know that some newly pregnant people are extremely cautious about the new lives growing inside them. There are a million reasons why you might feel this way, and they all make perfect sense. If this is you, and the idea of a massage increases your stress levels, you can choose to wait or skip it. We just want you to know that booking a prenatal massage is not something you “can’t” or “shouldn’t” do. If and when you’re ready for us, we’re here for you!
Let’s Make Your Pregnancy More Comfortable
Wishing you could feel just a little better in your pregnant bod today?
Download our free guide on how to feel less sore and finally get comfortable during pregnancy! It’s full of tips on taking care of you during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trimesters. We’ve even included a how-to guide for better at-home massages that you can use yourself OR send to your partner 😉