Health care providers are embracing the art of bodywork for pregnant women. Certified prenatal massage therapists can help patients relax, relieve anxiety, address swelling and common pregnancy discomforts such as back pain as well as improve labor and infant health. However, prenatal massage differs significantly from traditional massage. Continued education is the best way for therapists to ensure the safety of their clients and provide up-to-date massage benefits to pregnant women.
Skills
Most facilities that offer prenatal massage courses for continued education place an emphasis on propping positions, techniques and approaches to take with pregnant clients. Other instrumental lessons include giving full-body massages for pregnant women and emotional changes that occur in pregnant women. Massage can be used to assist with pain during labor. Practitioners that work with pregnant women must be aware of the emotional changes that women undergo during pregnancy and need to show both respect and caution when giving massages. Tenderness and sore points are likely to be present, especially in women in the later part of their pregnancies.
Certification
All massage therapists must be licensed according to state standards. Although these guidelines differ from state to state, most require at least 500 hours of education and certification through an accredited program. There is no law requiring massage therapists to seek out special licensing to practice on pregnant women. However, it is recommended that every practitioner who plans on seeing pregnant clients has some sort of training.
Prenatal massage certification, a certificate that can be obtained after completing a continued education course in prenatal massage at an accredited school, is an asset for any practitioner seeking to specialize in this field. A woman seeking out this type of therapy will feel better knowing her masseuse has been certified to perform prenatal massage.
Continued Education
All licensed massage therapists are required to renew their licenses every four years. There are two ways to accomplish this: Either retake the state exam or seek out continued education and log in 200 hours of massage within the 4-year time period.
Therapists must perform 50 hours of continued education every 4 years to utilize continued education as a method of license renewal. Prenatal massage classes and courses offer an excellent opportunity for therapists to gain prenatal skills and continue their education needed for licensing and insurance purposes. Most prenatal certification courses offer 16 to 18 credit hours or 2 to 3 credit hours per class. Practitioners looking for specialized training can obtain as many as 32 credit hours to use toward their continued education through infant and maternity massage courses designed to offer more in-depth training. These classes are more in-depth and have a greater focus of massage because pain management aids during labor as well as the role of massage in the postpartum stages of pregnancy. Some classes can be found online as well as through various massage schools.
Prices and Consideration
Classes for prenatal massage continued education courses vary. Most range between $100 to $600 and can be completed either at a seminar, lasting a few days, in a classroom, which may span 6 to 8 weeks, or at home, completed at the student's pace. It is highly recommended to submit course certification for continuing education as soon as the course is completed to ensure proper credit.
Resources
Schools and massage programs are accredited through the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation, COMTA. COMTA has an extensive listing of accredited programs listed by state. The website also offers several forms and documents to assist in continued education, CE, credit. They define terms and offer guidelines for finding CE opportunities. COMTA also offers information concerning financial aid for various programs under Free Application for Federal Student Aid, FAFSA, and links to useful sites such as the Federation of State Massage Therapy Board, the state licensing examination.
Tags: continued education, pregnant women, massage therapists, credit hours, prenatal massage
