There are many changes pregnant women go through in every trimester—physical and emotional.
As a female massage therapist, you may have wondered: Is it possible to nurture your clients as well as yourself when your own body is going through so much? How do sudden nausea and shifting gravity affect your ability to provide the same level of quality massage your clients are used to?
When
I started massage school, I had two young children, but I had always wanted a
big family. As most of us discover, when you’re a self-employed massage
therapist, if you don’t work, you don’t get paid.
Would
it be possible to do massage while pregnant, and how would that work out? How
long could I work? How had other women done that?
Because
I have had five pregnancies during my massage career—one of them with twins—fellow
massage therapists would reach out to me upon occasion to find out how I
managed and how it’s possible to work safely while taking care of oneself and
one’s baby.
I
reached out to massage therapists who are moms to see what their experiences of
massaging while pregnant were like. Modalities practiced ranged from hot stone,
Swedish, therapeutic, deep tissue, myofascial, sports, chair massage, Reiki, barefoot massage
and even Pillossage, a technique that makes use of heated pillows.
Here
are their answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about providing
massage while pregnant.
How Far Along in My Pregnancy Can I Work?
First,
of key importance is to make sure you have no contraindications that would
prevent you from working safely. Communication with your health care provider,
whether you’re seeing an obstetrician or midwife, is vital.
In
some cases, a high-risk pregnancy will prevent you from working at all. In
others, such as with multiple births or advanced maternal age (35 and older),
it may simply mean you see your care provider more often, so he or she can keep
an eye out for complications that may arise.
Carolyn
Boarman of Irvington, Virginia, who, at the time I wrote this article, was due
to give birth in two days, recently cut back her hours from five and a half per
day to three or four. Deep tissue has been a little harder for her to do, as
well as draping. That had gotten a little more complicated because people kept
kneeing her in the stomach as they turned over.
During
the last month of pregnancy for Ashley Maturin, of Lafayette, Louisiana, she
went down to three massages a day. “My feet started swelling at the end, so
standing wasn’t ideal. I’d have to go home and put them up to get rid of the
excess fluid.”
Foot
swelling
is a common issue for most women at the end of the pregnancy. Both Boarman and Maturin
were quick to point out that their employers were very accommodating, making
sure they were comfortable with the amount of work they could handle.
One
of the benefits Lauren Gardner of Staunton, Virginia, mentioned was that
staying active by practicing barefoot massage and being able to move throughout
the day helped in her pregnancy. She was able to work through 38 weeks.
Doing
barefoot massage “definitely helped my pregnancy go well, and I believe it kept
me from having aches and pains that a lot of women normally experience.”
Another
benefit was that her clients loved the extra weight she carried during her
pregnancy, as it allowed her to work deeper while doing Ashiatsu. (Yes, you
read that right!) Gardner had a little trouble doing seated barefoot work as
her belly got bigger, but she adjusted that as needed.
“Looking
back, I wish I would’ve kept going, because those last weeks were rougher than
the rest of the pregnancy combined. I think if I had kept working, those last
weeks would have been more bearable.”
Abby
Meyers of Champaign, Illinois, agrees. Despite having tired legs from standing,
she feels like being able to see her clients toward the end of the pregnancy
“helped to pass the eternity of the last month of pregnancy.”
I couldn’t do hands-on massage during my pregnancy with twins
because I would get out of breath when I bent over. Like Gardner’s clients,
mine were thrilled with the extra weight during barefoot
massage. While I stopped working at 32 weeks, I could have easily
worked several weeks longer. (It’s important to note that I did have my midwives’ approval for
this, and I was to stop if I ever felt unsafe or got dizzy.)
Like
Gardner, Cayln Wright of Reno, Nevada, also worked until 38 weeks. She is
currently pregnant and is expecting to work as long this time as well.
Specializing in a variety of modalities, Wright notes that her biggest issues
are swollen feet from standing long hours and discomfort from bending over.
Angela
Engelen in Cape Giradeau, Missouri, managed to avoid some of that while doing
chair massage events as well as hands-on. Pregnant with twins, she worked until
the evening prior to her C-section at 37 weeks.
In
Amherst, New Hampshire, Jenny Methot really kept going—not only did she work on
her due date, but she did two one-hour massages and one two-hour massage,
finishing by 6:00 p.m. Four hours later, she went into labor, and had the baby
the following morning.
What About Body Mechanics?
As your belly grows and hormones cause shifts in
ligament length to prepare for delivery, you will need t accommodate your body
mechanics.
Methot
did have to excuse herself to use the restroom while doing 90-minute or two-hour
sessions. In trying to avoid interrupting sessions, other therapists sometimes
found themselves dizzy, which happens due to dehydration or the growing uterus
putting pressure on blood vessels, or having Braxton-Hicks contractions, which
are “practice” contractions, due to a full bladder.
Having
to do hands-on massage while growing a baby in your body is no easy feat, mentions
Caitlyn Pitre of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. While she expected to work until
delivery, she was only able to make it through eight months.
“Modified
body mechanics, the extra weight, the hormones—these things greatly affect our
work and can become an issue if we’re not very careful. But I love being a
therapist and am grateful I was able to continue as long as I did throughout three
pregnancies.”
“I
attribute the benefit of no swelling of my hands … to the daily workout that
improves circulation overall, meaning better supply for my baby and better
health for my body,” reports Hollie Vanderheide of Afton, New York.
Vanderheide
was able to accommodate the shifting of gravity and the size of her belly by
squatting versus bending over. Having snacks at the office and being able to lie
down to rest periodically during the day also kept her healthy.
In
Flushing, Michigan, Emily Kato is approaching her third trimester of her second
pregnancy. With her first, her son was breech—meaning the baby’s position is
not head down, but buttocks down or another similar position—which made her
very uncomfortable.
“With
this pregnancy, at 27 weeks, I am trucking along. The hip pain is slowing me
down, but it’s making me listen to my body!” Kato said. Adjusting her table and
stools also helps make more room for her belly.
Hip
pain is a common theme while pregnant, but getting regular adjustments from the
chiropractor for whom Engelen worked kept her sciatic issues at bay.
When
doing seated massage, many barefoot therapists find themselves moving their
table a little further from the stool as their belly gets bigger. There are
some seated moves that aren’t so comfortable, so you will learn to modify and
delete as needed.
In
the Dayton, Ohio, area, Tzuling Kuo expected to have a hard time bending over
or dealing with the dizziness that accompanies some pregnancies.
“I
never actually felt discomfort during my work days,” Kuo said. “I did have to
snack a lot in between sessions.”
Benefits to Massaging While Pregnant
When
comparing her work days to her off days, Kuo mentioned that having to move
around and focus on someone else helped her feel less tired. On her days off,
she just wanted to lie around and complain about her aching joints due to the
hormonal changes.
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Another
benefit was that climbing up and down off the table to do barefoot massage kept
her legs strong and her hip joints flexible.
“This
was very valuable during my last trimester when my belly was huge. It was also
great for labor!” she said.
Justine
Robinson of Summerville, South Carolina, agrees. The physical aspect of doing
barefoot massage helped her stay fit during two pregnancies—one of which was with
twins.
“It
enabled me to work as long as I did as well as be able to push through labor
and delivery. And the knowledge base of being an LMT has helped me to
understand the physiological changes while pregnant.”
Maturin
mentions that she was able to stay more active than most other pregnant women she
knows and her body bounced back more quickly.
While
Kimberly Radomski of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, had troubles with her workload
during both her pregnancies, she was able to keep more active by floating in a pool,
something my midwives recommended as well.
“I’m
pretty sure being a massage therapist while pregnant helped me to stay in
pretty decent shape,” Radomski said. “Without my work, I probably wouldn’t be
as active.”
What Will My Clients Think?
The
overwhelming majority of therapists mentioned that their clients were very
accommodating, despite the baby periodically kicking the client on the head or
torso.
Ashley Bowman of Deland, Florida, found an unexpected result. “I had a few gruff old men clients who softened up a lot the more I progressed in my pregnancy. Having little old gruff men suddenly talking sweet to your belly is super unexpected.”
About the Author:
Mary-Claire Fredette, LMT, has eight children,
six of whom were born during her massage career. She did hands-on massage for
babies three and four; barefoot massage for babies five through eight. She’s
the co-founder of Center for Barefoot Massage and owns Affinity Massage Studio
in Cincinnati, where she’s been a licensed massage therapist since 1999.
Last Updated on May 2, 2025 by MASSAGE Magazine