Pre & Postnatal Massage in Vancouver

For most healthy pregnancies, yes. Registered Massage Therapists are trained in prenatal care and adapt the treatment to where you are in your pregnancy. Our RMTs use safe positioning and gentle, pregnancy-appropriate techniques, and they'll ask about your stage and any complications before starting.

One caveat worth stating plainly: this page is general information, not medical advice. If your pregnancy is considered high-risk, or you have conditions such as pre-eclampsia, a history of blood clots, placenta issues or significant swelling, please check with your doctor or midwife before booking. Bring whatever guidance they give you to your appointment, and your therapist will work within it.

For a healthy pregnancy, prenatal massage can be appropriate across all three trimesters, with technique and positioning adjusted as you progress. Some clients prefer to wait until the first trimester is behind them. That's a personal call to make with your care provider. You'll lie on your side, supported by pillows and bolsters that take the pressure off your back, hips and belly. Your therapist keeps adjusting the cushioning until you're genuinely comfortable, not just tolerating it.

Clients most often come to us for low-back, hip and pelvic discomfort as posture shifts with the growing belly. Tight, tired legs and general muscle fatigue are close behind, along with neck and shoulder tension and the knock-on effects on stress and sleep. No two pregnancies are the same, so what brings the most relief varies from person to person. Your therapist spends the time where you're hurting most.

You'll see pregnancy massage and prenatal massage used interchangeably. They're the same thing: massage therapy adapted for the pregnant body. When clients ask us about pregnancy massage, three questions come up almost every time. Is it safe? Do I need an RMT rather than a spa therapist? Will my extended health plan cover it? For a healthy pregnancy, the answer to all three is yes.

A session with one of our RMTs opens with an intake: how far along you are, any complications your care provider has flagged, and where things hurt most — usually the lower back, hips, legs or shoulders. From there you settle onto your side with bolster support. Sessions run 45, 60 or 90 minutes. Most clients carrying comfortably pick the 60. Because your therapist is a Registered Massage Therapist, the receipt qualifies for your extended health coverage, and we direct-bill most major insurers so you're not paying the full amount up front. Our direct billing page lists every insurer we work with.

The first months with a newborn ask a lot of the body. You're running on broken sleep and using your body in new, repetitive ways: feeding in hunched positions, hauling a car seat in and out of the back of a car, carrying a baby on one hip for what adds up to hours a day. That tends to show up as upper-back and neck tightness, sore shoulders and wrists, and a lower back that never quite gets a rest.

Postnatal massage is treatment adapted to that reality. For a birthing parent, your therapist works with where your body is in recovery, easing the back, hip and shoulder load that feeding and carrying create and adjusting positioning to your comfort. It isn't only for the parent who gave birth, though. Co-parents do their share of the lifting and floor-time, and the strain that comes with it is just as real. If you're caring for a newborn, whatever your family structure is, this work is for you.

Like everything we do, your postnatal massage is delivered by a Registered Massage Therapist, so the receipt qualifies for extended health coverage and we direct-bill most major insurers. One caveat on timing: if you had a caesarean or any birth complication, tell your therapist and check with your care provider about when it's right to start before you book.