The purpose of a new study published in Complementary Therapies in Medicine was to report on side effects and mother- or child-related physical harm of massage during pregnancy and postnatal period.

This was an observational study that was conducted in two massage clinics in Sydney and Melbourne, which recruited 101 participants over a period of one year (Dec 2016-Dec 2017). The findings revealed that two fifths or 40% of the participants experienced one or more post-massage side effects, yet there were no mother- or child-related physical harm events. Low back pain was the most common condition women sought massage treatment for (33.7%). A significant benefit was observed pre-massage to post-massage and pre-massage to 1-week post massage in decreasing stress, decreasing pain, increasing range of motion, and improving sleep in these pregnant women. Hence, the results indicated that massage was frequently sought by pregnant women for low back pain and rendered promising benefits in ameliorating pain, improving the range of movement, and decreasing stress.