Touch and the Expectant Mother

When giving birth, a woman may look into the face of both life and death. Nothing is more real than each and every moment that she feels the force of life bearing down through her pelvis, reaching its way through her body. She may wonder at times if she will survive such a force, which pushes with its own will, beyond what she has known before. She herself is being born in a new way, to a new self, as she births her child. The touch companion–touching with hands, words, song, or even a strong gaze,––helps a woman to remember her vital, powerful, birthing goddess Self.

The key to being a good touch companion during birth is to remember there is no special massage routine. Every birth is different. You must be flexible—willing to follow the laboring woman from place to place if she is walking, from one position to another as her needs change, and through all emotions, from outbursts of frustration to inward spaces of retreat and meditative calm. You will become embedded in the story of her birth, and in some ways, the journey will change who you are, as it is rare to be present with birth and not be profoundly affected by its power.

By Leslie Stager, RN, LMT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Class Information
December 8, 1- 5 pm
Oregon School of Massage, 9500 SW Barbur Blvd, Portland
$100
To register call 503-244-3420 

Appropriate for pregnant couples, massage therapists, doulas, midwives, healthcare students, anyone working with laboring mothers…Oregon School of Massage offers a “Pregnancy Massage: Labor & Birth” class. In this 4 hour class students practice a variety of touch techniques.  No massage experience is necessary. The class will include a video of serveral birthing experiences. Registrants may bring a pregnant women to work with.

About Leslie
Leslie Stager RN, LMT, is a Perinatal Massage Educator, a Holistic Pelvic Care Practitioner, and an Infant Cranial Sacral Therapist. She directs the OSM Maternity Massage Certification Program. The author of Nurturing Massage for Pregnancy, Leslie has also produced “MotherTouch” DVDs.

She can be reached at 207 323 5101. For more information about Leslie and her work visit:

 

“Every act of birth requires the courage to let go of something, to let go of the lap, to let go of the hand, to let go eventually of all certainties, and to rely on one thing: one’s own power to be aware and to respond; that is, ones’ creativity. … To be creative means to consider the whole process of life as a process of birth, andnot to take any stage of life as a final stage.” Erich Fromm

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