Your Abdomen During Pregnancy

During pregnancy your overall blood supply increases by 30-50%. You need this blood as your body and organs accommodate for a growing baby. The kidneys, respiratory, GI systems, and liver expand as your pregnancy progresses. You may notice this in your circulatory system, as you see more blue surface veins on your body.

Your digestion changes as your organs become more crowded, in some cases, you can’t eat food you could before your pregnancy. Your skin glows, or maybe you get some new rashes or itchy skin. These are all normal occurrences and signs of a body that is changing to support the growth of a human being.

Abdominal Massage helps to direct that additional blood supply to the digestive and reproductive organs where it can deliver nutrients that are the basis for optimal functioning amidst the stresses that your body is now facing.

But, it’s about more than just directing blood flow to the parts of the body that need it most. There’s a powerful hormonal and emotional component to abdominal massage that make it a tremendously useful self-care practice.

What is Abdominal Massage?

Abdominal/Uterine Massage is a gentle and tender massage (the opposite of a sports, or deep tissue massage) performed on your belly that can be done from the comfort of your home. As we mentioned, it increases blood flow and circulation to your growing abdomen, supporting relaxation while giving your body some much needed personal attention.

This form of massage is performed by numerous cultures around the world that favor natural approaches to childbirth, specifically in South America and Asia as well as increasingly in the U.S.

Abdominal Massage has a number of benefits:

Increasing blood flow to the placenta and uterus, which delivers nutrients to your baby.
Supporting good digestion and elimination through increased blood flow, which many women struggle with throughout pregnancy.
Reducing stress and promoting relaxation through the release of oxytocin (more on that next!).

The American Pregnancy Association outlines a number of additional benefits in a synopsis here.

Oxytocin: The Love Hormone

Perhaps the most amazing benefit of massaging your belly is that you stimulate the release of small doses of oxytocin, also known as the love hormone. This hormone is typically released during acts of appreciation, touch, massage, and emotional connection. When you massage your belly during pregnancy, you are actually bonding with your baby through an exchange of this amazing hormone!

Research performed by Developmental Neuroscientist Ruth Feldman, PhD, demonstrated that oxytocin levels in mothers throughout pregnancy actually predicted the quality of bonding between mother and child after birth! In addition, mothers with greater levels of oxytocin reported more behaviors that indicated a strong relationship with their baby.

Oxytocin also lowers stress hormones, like cortisol. We all experience stress, it’s unavoidable in life. Abdominal massage helps you and your baby to feel supported and loved during stressful times, setting you on a path to emotional balance.

And there’s actually an evolutionary component to all of this: women are inherently drawn to touching and rubbing their bellies in pregnancy. This helps the baby to learn the mother’s touch while deepening their emotional connection. Abdominal massage just formalizes this innate desire to deepen the benefits.

Simply put, acts of touch and massage whether between mother and child or two partners actually changes us in profound ways at the neurochemical level. They matter, not just emotionally, but physiologically.

Love Butter Belly Balm

Love Butter Belly Balm is made with entirely organic plant-based ingredients. It is created to moisturize and deeply nourish your skin as your belly grows. It is an excellent lubricant for your hands while you perform abdominal massage. It is non-greasy and Increases blood flow to your belly and uterus, improving digestion, promoting relaxation and even reducing aches and pains.

“I'm so glad I found Wildish! Their products are so high quality. I've been loving the love butter so far (so has baby!) and am so happy to be supporting a small, mama-owned business!”

- Jenn ★★★★★

How to Perform Abdominal Massage

Abdominal Massage is incredibly simple and can be performed in as little as five minutes. It can also be drawn out for even deeper benefits. We recommend it to our clients as an evening self-care ritual as the release of oxytocin promotes relaxation and restful sleep.

At the time of writing this, we pinned an Instagram Story to the Highlights section of our profile (@wearewildish), called “Massage”. If you prefer, you can watch this story as our co-founder Suzanne walks you through the various strokes. Or you can simply read on.

This massage can be performed in bed, on the couch, reclined on a chair or even on the floor – anywhere you feel comfortable.

Beginning: Place both of your hands on your belly and lovingly greet your baby. We recommend spreading a lubricant or moisturizer around your belly to nourish the skin and help smooth the movements of your hands during the massage. Our Love Butter Belly Balm is our favorite, for its organic, entirely plant-based ingredients that deeply nourish the skin without leaving a greasy feeling.
Big Circular Strokes: Using both hands, gently make large clockwise circles around your belly. We always use clockwise motions because this aligns with the directional flow of the digestive organs in the abdomen. You may feel these organs relax as you perform the massage.
Small Circular Strokes: Next, using your fingers, make small circles around your belly button, while, again, moving in a clockwise motion.
Upward Lifting Strokes: Starting from your pubic bone, with both hands, make gentle upward lifting strokes towards your belly button.
Downward Pulling Strokes: Starting from your sternum where your rib cage meets, with both hands, make gentle downward pulling strokes towards your belly button. This is the opposite motion of the previous stroke.
Diagonal Pulling Strokes: Make these same motions with both hands but from diagonal directions from the sides of your rib cage towards your belly button and up from your hip bones towards your belly button. If your belly was a clock with your ribs up at 12 o’clock, then your hands would begin at 1:30, 4:30, 7:30 and 10:30 all moving towards the center.
Horizontal Pulling Strokes: Now make these same pulling strokes with both hands from the sides of your belly towards the middle (3:00 and 9:00).
Repeat: Complete the strokes as many times as you would like, focusing on the ones that feel the best. As long as you are doing the massage in a gentle and loving manner, you and your baby will experience the benefits.

Additional Thoughts

If you massage regularly your baby will recognize the strokes and may respond by meeting your touch. This is obviously an amazing experience, feeling present with one another during pregnancy.

To support deeper connection, consider talking to your baby during the massage, letting them know how you will take care of them and protect them when they arrive.

If your partner wants to give the massage, the baby will learn their touch as well, as they know the difference in the energy of the people who touch them. Partners can bond and connect with the baby before the birth, making the massage ritual something that connects both parties to the baby.

We’ve been performing a more in-depth version of this abdominal massage on prenatal clients for many years. We also use a variation of it with women who are experiencing challenges with fertility as it increases blood flow to the reproductive organs. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out (hello@wildish.co).

The Awesome Power of Abdominal Massage During Pregnancy