It is always very satisfying for me to know that people who studied with me do go out and work in the field of pregnancy bodywork. I love hearing from former students, so do please keep sending in any experiences. Hannah Walker (Scott) completed my Pregnancy massage Diploma course in 2011 and works in Sheffield. Since the course, she has become pregnant herself for the first time and is still working at 33 weeks. Here she shares some of her experience.
” For as long as I have been working as a pregnancy and postnatal massage therapist, I have absolutely loved it and find everything about pregnancy and birth totally fascinating.
The only factor that I had not been able to really understand and relate to was the physicality of pregnancy itself. That was until I became pregnant myself and now have another level of deeper understanding with my clients.
Before I became pregnant, I never once saw it as a problem that I hadn’t experienced pregnancy or given birth, as I had the confidence in my ability to do the work and build on the knowledge and skills that I had learnt. This was also never a problem for my clients as they seemed comfortable knowing that the training I had done was sufficient to be able to do my job as a pregnancy therapist.
As this is my first pregnancy, I have nothing to compare it to, but I do consider myself as being very lucky as so far I have had a really smooth pregnancy and really enjoyed seeing and feeling my body change and adapt to accommodate this little human being growing inside me.
I have also been fortunate enough to be able to work throughout my pregnancy as a therapist with no hitches. I am currently 33 weeks pregnant and still really enjoying my work. I feel that it has given me that extra level of understanding that I may not have been able to relate to had I not become pregnant. With that being said every person and every pregnancy is different so you are never going to be able to fully understand what the other person is going through, without actually being that person, so I still firmly believe that you can do this kind of work without ever experiencing pregnancy yourself.
Throughout my own personal experience of pregnancy I have been receiving massage every two weeks along with some reflexology sessions to help keep me balanced and relaxed. In this sense it has been great to experience what my clients experience but also to be able to confirm how much it has helped me and how effective massage and relaxation can be whilst you are growing and carrying this miracle in your tummy! I really do believe by having massage regularly it has kept me going, free from aches and pains and feeling well and energised. To me, this has been one of the most positive elements of experiencing pregnancy and relating it to my work.
I am planning to work as late into my pregnancy as I can, as long as I feel well and able to, I see no reason why not. I think if you look after yourself properly, listen to your body and don’t ignore any signals that it may be giving off to either tell you to slow down or stop. It really is amazing what your body is able to do, trust in your own body, trust your instincts and try to relax and enjoy this amazing experience.”
Hannah Walker
Pregnancy and Post-Natal Massage Therapist
