Can massaging your baby improve the mood of new mothers?
I can’t begin to imagine how worried, anxious & may be inadequate I would feel if I had a premature baby. I would imagine there is a really strong instinct & desire to the hold the baby which is more difficult if it needs to be in an incubator.
A recent study has looked at the impact on the mother’s health of massaging premature babies. Fifty-two mothers with babies born at 30 – 38 weeks were randomly assigned ot an intervention or control group. Mothers in the experimental group were asked to massage their babies daily alongside standard medical care, while those in the control group only had standard medical care.
Mothers in the experimental group were given an information pamphlet, training video and researches conducted a massage training session. They were then asked to perform a massage on their babies for 15 minutes each day for 5 days.
Mothers were asked to complete a questionnaire rating changes in 65 “mood factors” including anxiety, depression and fatigue, on a five-point scale. Mood scores were consistent across both groups at the beginning of the study but there were significant differences by the end. Mothers who massaged their babies had a better mood than those who didn’t. They also experienced less anxiety, depression & fatigue.
Reading this did make me wonder the impact of massaging babies would have on the mood of mums whose babies weren’t premature.
Reference
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1556370717300937
Related Posts
How to combat sitting all day
Sitting all day is a current health concern. While I know that sitting all day has been described as "the new smoking" until now this made me uncomfortable - as its not the same. You can get help to quit smoking. If you work in an office you are expected to sit and standing desks are rare, so you have no choice but to sit down. While I am aware that smoking is an addiction, I think it is still more within the individual's control than sitting if you work in an office. I am an optimistic person by nature, so I don't want to be the voice of doom for my readers about sitting. So I was very interested in some recent research which demonstrates how to limit the impact of sitting. Spending much of the day sitting around increases the risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and ultimately, death - with 50,000 people anually in the UK dying as a result, say researches from Queen's University in Belfast. Around 30% of adults spend at least six hours a day during the week sitting and this rises to 37% at weekends. Roughly one-thrid of people who are sedentary will have at least two major health conditions, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Researchers from the American Cancer Society estimate that just 30 minutes of some physical activity would halve the death rates from chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer. So 30 minutes of physical activity per day (like walking) is what researchers currently think is required to combat sitting all day. References Journal Epidemiol Community Health. 2019 Jul;73(7):625-629. doi:10.1136/jech-2018-211758 Americal Journal of Preventive Medicine, Mortality Risk Reductions for Replacing Sedentary Time with Physical Activities, Rees-Punia, Erika et al. Volume 56, Issue 5, 736-741
Is eating organic food worth it?
I have often wondered weather paying that bit more for organic food is worth it. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. I normally buy organic eggs and meat but with vegatables I am really not very consistent. I know with organic vegatables you get less pesticides but is it worth it. I know in the past studies have shown that there was no benefit. However recently researches in France tracked 68,946 adults and decided to compare cancer rates in people who eat organic food and those who didn't. They discovered that eating organic food
- reduces your risk of cancer by 25%
- reduces your risk of non-Hodgkins lymphoma by 73%
- reduces your risk of post-menopausal breast cancer by 21%
Start eating prebiotics to reduce stress levels
When we are under pressure, stressed or anxious our bodies react, for some people this means they develop tension in the neck & shoulders, for others they get butterflies in their stomach or their digestive system becomes more sensitive. Stress messes with your they bacteria in your gut and creates a viscous circle that makes stress and anxiety attacks even worse. While we are all familiar with probiotics or good bacteria which you can buy in tablet form in health food shops or are added to yogurts. What you may be less familiar with are prebiotics which are the "food" for the good bacteria in your gut. Prebiotics can undo the impact stress has on the gut. They are found in plant fibers like
- raw chicory root
- raw Jerusalem artichoke
- raw garlic
- raw leeks
- raw asparagus
- raw and cooked onions
