If you ring to book for a pregnancy massage and mention that you are in the first trimester then there are many therapists who will refuse to accept your booking. Day spas often will include on brochures and promotional materials that you should not come in for a massage if you are in the early stages of pregnancy.

So it appears as though the massage industry supports the view that massage during the first trimester is not safe.

However, for many women this is just not the case and there are no scientific reasons for healthy women not to get a massage during the first trimester. Indeed often women will receive bodywork without even knowing that they are pregnant.

The reasons for the varying positions on first trimester pregnancy massage stem from a misconception that massage can, in some cases, lead to miscarriage. This view is inaccurate and there is no causal link between massage and miscarriage. Whilst the prevalence of miscarriage is greatest in the few months of pregnancy, in general, the actions and the activities of the women will have no bearing on the likelihood of her suffering from an unfortunate miscarriage. Basically if it is going to happen then it will happen as the miscarrying embryo is typically chromosomally abnormal and not viable. Infections and diseases may be other causal factors. Exercising, stretching or having a massage, however, does not contribute any risk towards a miscarriage.

If a miscarriage does happen within a short period of having a massage, assuming that the massage therapist has not acted outside of their scope of training, then it is fair and reasonable to declare that having the massage was not the reason for the miscarriage. Whilst a woman may very well question what she did and didn’t do in the days before the miscarriage, in the long run hopefully she will be able to understand that what happened was going to happen regardless and she should not assign any blame to her (or others) actions.

Most massage therapists do understand this point, yet a significant proportion are still reluctant to perform a first trimester pregnancy massage. Their position is that they do not wish to be put into a position of the woman associating a miscarriage with any massage. This is very much a personal choice of an individual therapist and no therapist should ever be put into a position of providing massage services when they are not entirely comfortable to do so. Some clinics may make a similar decision on behalf of all therapists, more out of a misguided fear of litigation.

Whether a woman actually feels like having a massage during the first trimester though is a separate question. Nausea, morning sickness lethargy, breast tenderness, etc may act as negative influences and make her not want to get a massage anyway. However, this is a separate issue to whether she can get a massage or not.

Before booking in for a massage with a suitably trained therapist, we would also suggest that you discuss your intentions with your doctor just to ensure that there are no issues which may mean that pregnancy massage (at any stage of the pregnancy) is contraindicated.

By Richard Lane