Hi girls,
I know I asked this a few months back but now I can't find my old post and my back is t-i-g-h-t! Can anyone recommend a good place for prenatal massage, preferably in a more spa-like place? Also, did you have your massage with the "prenatal table" with the hole in the center or did you have to lay on your side the whole time? Thanks!
Re: Prenatal Massage in a Spa-Like Atmosphere
I had all my pre-natal massages at a place called Stressbusters in Laguna Hills. That place is amazing! They have you lay on your side and then your back, which is actually the way you should be laying. It's unsafe for you and your baby to lay on your stomach through a "hole". This position can cut off circulation to your baby!
Anyway, Stressbusters has specially trained pregnancy massage therapists. I recommend them highly!
StressBusters in Laguna Hills (www.StressBustersSpa 949-831-1988) is the highest quality prenatal massage facility in California, maybe the whole US!! They have specialized for over 17 years my therapist told me in pregnancy and have custom made hydraulic tables so that I could lay on my sides and my back. It brings you up into a lounge type position, taking the weight off all my joints. It is perfectly safe to lay semi-reclining. They are completely against any massage table that has a hole in it for forward facing massages. Showed me some clinical write-ups about the dangers such a table can cause both to the moms back and to the oxygen uptake for the fetus. I would NEVER go to somewhere that had such tables!!
The massages at StressBusters are awesome!! And every time they are awesome. Burke Williams' pregnancy massages are just foo-foo by comparison. StressBusters has taken away every ache and pain I went in for. I think they are so good because everyone of their therapists are advanced pregnancy certified and have alot of experience in working with us preggies. My therapist said that they have served over 10,000 prenatal clients in the time they have specialized.
Both Saddleback and Mission Hospital refer them exclusively. Me too!! LOVE THEM.
The statement that one shouldn't lie on their back after 20 weeks is true only if the table is a stationary flat one. One that is hydraulic and lifts the mom into a lounging position or semi-reclining position is 100% safe and feels WONDERFUL. It takes all the weight off all the joints and I forgot for a moment I was pregnant while being massaged.
If you are not confident about it, ask your OB about lying in a semi-reclining position; they will tell you it is a safe position. Remember, the therapist must be advanced certified in pregnancy massage. I got a prenatal massage from a big corporate spa and had the same aches and pains when I walked out that I had when walking in...