Pregnant women benefit from massage therapy.

Published

Journal Article

Twenty-six pregnant women were assigned to a massage therapy or a relaxation therapy group for 5 weeks. The therapies consisted of 20-min sessions twice a week. Both groups reported feeling less anxious after the first session and less leg pain after the first and last session. Only the massage therapy group, however, reported reduced anxiety, improved mood, better sleep and less back pain by the last day of the study. In addition, urinary stress hormone levels (norepinephrine) decreased for the massage therapy group and the women had fewer complications during labor and their infants had fewer postnatal complications (e.g., less prematurity).

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Field, T; Hernandez-Reif, M; Hart, S; Theakston, H; Schanberg, S; Kuhn, C

Published Date

  • March 1999

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 20 / 1

Start / End Page

  • 31 - 38

PubMed ID

  • 10212885

Pubmed Central ID

  • 10212885

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1743-8942

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0167-482X

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.3109/01674829909075574

Language

  • eng