If massage can induce labor, why isn’t everyone doing it? I remember learning this during one of my first pregnancy trainings. It was bold, grounded and when spoken out loud, palpably true. What you may not know is that pregnancy isn’t a major subject when a person is in massage school. Most programs have a 3 hour crash course of didactic and then the students trade massages to learn how to stack pillows for a side lying massage. The school’s agenda is to keep you safe by having therapists only use light pressure after the 1^st trimester until they search out additional training later on. The schools teach us not to touch you in the first trimester just in case…….

So here I am, sitting in a continuing education class, being told that not only can I touch a pregnant woman in her first trimester, I must use pressure during prenatal massages. What could she possibly mean? And she turns to us and says, “If it is so easy to miscarry a baby, why isn’t everyone lining up at our doors, not telling us they are pregnant, and skipping the public shame of Planned Parenthood.” I am going to ask you to read that again a little differently. If it is so easy for massage to induce labor why isn’t everyone doing it?

There are a lot of similarities between what gets baby in and how baby comes out, massage is one of them. If tension in the mom is subconsciously holding the baby in when the baby naturally should be coming out, massage can relax mom enough to let go. This covers the full length of her pregnancy from conception to birth. If massage doesn’t induce a miscarriage when pregnancy is at it’s most vulnerable point, how can massage induce labor for a full term pregnancy?

Since that training in 2007, I have continued to educate myself around your childbearing year. If it is that easy for a massage to induce your labor, you wouldn’t be able to get in for one, because everyone would be doing it. Why sleep in the hospital bed all night if you could just get a massage instead? The biggest piece of advice I can share with you about how to “induce” labor is that you need to be receiving regular massage throughout your pregnancy by a qualified therapist.

As an Advanced Arvigo® Practitioner I have learned how to take that “deep tissue” experience that many trained therapists provide, and add a level of advanced therapeutic techniques that balance the abdominal and pelvic areas, bring the uterus into alignment and release the tendons and ligaments throughout the pelvis before birth. Even with the most advanced session, which can only be scheduled after 38 weeks gestation, I won’t say that I am inducing labor. Most women experience contractions on the table and one mama went into labor while receiving a Ready Set Go session, but I still won’t claim to induce labor. Why? That isn’t what I am doing. Even after spending over $25000 in education to serve you during your childbearing year, all I am doing is bringing your body into alignment and balance. This allows maximum lymph, blood and nerve flow to you and your baby, so your baby can make their own choice to move into the pelvis and signal the beginning of labor. (Yes, you heard that right; your baby is who decides when labor is going to start, not your massage therapist. You can read more about that here.)

So what makes an Arvigo® session different from any other prenatal massage? You can and will have your belly touched, your uterus, hips and pelvis assessed for alignment and your tailbone and sacrum released for mobility throughout your pregnancy. You may even experience contractions during the Ready Set Go protocol. To be clear, if I take credit for when labor starts I would also be responsible for a “failed induction” if a mom doesn’t experience contractions or labor. That is not within my scope as an Advanced Arvigo® Therapist, a massage therapist, a doula, or any other training outside of being the primary care doctor/midwife. The only person qualified to induce labor outside of the mother/baby relationship is the primary care physician or midwife.

Spoiler alert: Guess what! This same exact philosophy applies to your other natural/ alternative care providers.

Did you know that most Chiropractors don’t receive prenatal training as part of their 4 years of training. It is completely appropriate to ask them what pregnancy training they have received and it matters. You wouldn’t see a general practitioner as your “OB/GYN” why aren’t you asking the rest of us what qualifications we have. Not sure where to start? Look up Chiropractor’s trained in the Webster Technique. Even if you never need that specific appointment, you will know walking into that office that they specialize in pregnancy care. If you walk into an office and they make comments about not knowing what to do with you, or support your adjustment with a growing belly, walk out.

This same rule might apply for your physical therapist, acupuncturist (least likely), and even natural/ alternative remedies given by your midwife or doctor. Don’t be afraid to ask them why, what are the possible side effects, where did you learn this, and are you a trained professional in this area.