MIDIRS Essence > August 2010 > MIDIRS

Infant massage for children with disabilities and special needs

Originally posted on Aug 2010

Anita Epple, infant massage teacher, trainer and author, gives an insightful view of how positive touch and infant massage can benefit both babies and parents. Her book Infant Massage: The Definitive Guide for Teaching Parents can also be viewed on the MIDIRS Shop.

From the moment they are born, babies actively seek interaction with others and, through play, their unique personalities become increasingly apparent to their parents, who can then tune into their infants likes and sensitivities.

Loving touch from a parent plays an enormous part in establishing physical and emotional connections with an infant and there has been a huge upsurge in professionals working with parents to offer infant massage to parents who are seeking to learn more about the benefits.

Bernard Brazelton, child psychologist, believes that touch is central to the development of the bonding relationship between parent and child. Infant massage is a form of positive touch and an extremely important form of communication, therefore aiding the attachment and bonding process. A recent systematic review (Underdown et al, 2006) found that infant massage has beneficial effects in terms of reducing stress hormones (Cortisol), promoting sleep and positive interactions, especially where mothers have been diagnosed with postnatal illness. Zeedyk (2007) states that infant massage can help with cognitive and brain development.

These significant benefits can be experienced not only by a healthy full-term baby, but by babies with some form of special need or disability.

Many Portage service and health professionals, working with parents whose infant has a special need, undertake infant massage teacher training, because they recognise how valuable this service can be. When infant massage is taught sensitively and professionally to parents, it offers them a non-stigmatising, inclusive, and empowering environment in which to learn a new skill. This will enable them to communicate with their infant, understand their body and feel positive that what they are doing is safe. It is paramount that a non-directive teaching style is adopted ensuring that the teacher is respectful of the parent and infant, so that the experience is a positive one.

Commonly, infant massage is taught in a group setting, so that parents can form friendships and network. It is particularly useful for those parents who feel isolated or suffering from depression. However, it is recognised that working with groups of Portage parents may prove difficult due to the need for numerous appointments and parents may not be able to attend a course. This does not preclude them from attending a one-to-one course with a teacher so that the programme can be tailored to their individual needs.

Each condition is different and will require the teacher to consider adaptations to the standard strokes to accommodate specific needs. For instance a baby with a gastrostomy (Tipping, 2009) may find it difficult to lie in the prone position for a back massage, but suitable adaptations can be made to the back strokes without causing discomfort.

Many infants with special needs have sensory issues and it is important when teaching parents to massage their infant that the strokes should be quite firm as they may over-stimulate the baby. Perhaps starting with a very few strokes each session, building baby’s tolerance, until they are happy to receive a full massage. Massage can strengthen the immune system and studies show that some premature infants who receive positive touch from their parents in hospital show greater physical and neurological improvement and generally gain weight more rapidly, reducing their stay in a special care unit (Scafadi, 1990).

Infant massage can also help those families whose babies are terminally ill. This can improve the quality of the remainder of everyday life for the child and enable the parents to communicate their loving feelings (Hubbard, 2002).

Infant massage can be used with infants with many disabilities, however the parent is always asked to check with the baby’s physicians to ensure that there are no contraindications arising with regards to massage (Epple, 2009).

As a teacher and trainer of infant massage to health professionals I am convinced that as well as the above, massage can offer so much more for an infant with a disability and their family, giving increased confidence and providing respite from constant trips to appointments. This is supported by Portage Co-ordinator Janet Robinson (Robinson, 2008) who wrote:

For one mum whose son was very disabled it made such a huge difference. She wrote on her evaluation: “I feel J loves it and it makes me feel very close to him.” The massage had such an impact that J was meeting his Portage targets through his massage sessions!

About Anita Epple

Anita Epple, Infant Massage Teacher-Trainer and Author, first became interested in baby massage shortly after the birth of her daughter in the late 90s and, from first-hand experience she quickly became aware of its benefits. Since then Anita has been an enthusiastic and passionate ambassador for baby massage. She teaches parents and professionals in the UK and abroad, and she runs the exemplary positive touch training company Touch-Learn International Limited. Anita has written several published articles and books on infant massage, and has made an appearance on television. Touch-Learn has been training health professionals and parenting practitioners in the UK for over eight years and is accredited by the Guild of Infant and Child Massage, IGPP and IPTI.

Bibliography

BRAZELTON, B. (1990) Touch: The Foundation of Experience International Universities Press
EPPLE, A., CARPENTER, P. (2009) Infant Massage: The Definitive Guide For Teaching Parents Ditto International
EPPLE, A. (2009) Special Situations: Umbilical Hernias and Infant Massage, GICM Connections, Volume 2, Issue 10, Spring 200
EPPLE, A., CARPENTER, P. (2009) The Pocket Book of Baby Massage Ditto International
FIELD, T., GRIZZLE, N., SCAFIDI, F., ABRAMS, S. and RICHARDSON, S. (1996) Massage therapy for infants of depressed mothers Infant Behaviour and Development, 19, 109-114
GERHARDT, S. (2005) Why Love Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby’s Brain Routledge publishers
HELLER, S. (1997) The Vital Touch: How intimate contact with your baby leads to happier, healthier development Holt and Company, New York
HUBBARD, D. (2002) Tender Loving Care: Massaging your child when in hospital GICM Connections, Volume 1, Issue 2
ROBINSON, J. (2008) Infant Massage with Children with Special Needs In-Touch with Touch-Learn, Volume 1, Issue 5
SCAFIDI, F.A. et al (1990). Massage stimulates growth in preterm infants: A replication Infant Behaviour and Development, 13, 167-188.
TIPPING, E. (2009) Special Situations: Gastrostomy and Infant Massage GICM Connections, Volume 2, Issue 10, Spring 2009
UNDERDOWN, A. et al (2006) Massage intervention for promoting mental and physical health in infants aged under six months Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews Issue 4. Art. No.: CD005038. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD005038.pub2
ZEEDYK, M. S. (2007) Building babies’ brains through parents’ love www.touchlearn.co.uk

© Anita Epple 2010 | Photo Credit: Anita Epple | Edited version of an article first published in Interconnections Journal, July 2010 |

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