In the summer of 1974, when my first child was born, I didn't know anything about infant massage, but I knew that I wanted to touch my baby. It was a hot summer, and it felt good to carry my daughter around skin to skin. I would take her outside and lay her on a blanket in the fresh air under the eaves of our house. There I would rub her with sweet almond oil and massage her soft skin.

At about this same time, a few hundred miles away, Vimala was massaging her babies. Vimala is the premier proponent of infant massage in the world and was among the first to write about massage in general and infant massage in particular. In fact, Vimala's work in infant massage has been instrumental in the birth of touch therapy and bodywork in the United States and has helped to popularize and legitimize massage throughout the world. Her early work on infant massage and premature babies was years ahead of its time and continues to influence the humane care of newborns through touch.

Infant massage is really an old-fashioned idea, and its beauty lies in the fact that anyone can do it. It's simple and it's good for you. It can't hurt you or your baby and it costs nothing. Don't think that you need special skills or talents to massage your baby. It comes naturally and is a way for our babies to teach us about themselves and for us to learn how to touch.

Touch is as necessary to the human baby as is food. Anthropologist Margaret Mead studied tribal societies all over the world and found that the most violent tribes were those that withheld touch in infancy. Neurologist Richard Restak says that physically holding and carrying an infant turn out to be the most important factors responsible for the infant's normal mental and social development. The effects of this normal development do not just influence infancy but impact the neural and neuroendocrine functions underlying emotional behavior in enduring ways. In other words, the more we experience authentic intimacy as infants, the more we are capable of intimacy as adults. And what can be more intimate than gentle touch?

Research at the University of Miami School of Medicine suggests that massage can stimulate nerves in the brain that facilitate food absorption, resulting in faster weight gain. Massage can lower stress hormones, resulting in improved immune function.
What better way to improve parent-baby interactions, what better way to ensure your baby is getting enough skin-to-skin contact, than with infant massage? The soothing oil and the soft easy touch of your hands are sensory delights that you can share with your baby as you introduce him to the world. Massage is such a nice way to get to know your baby and to spend time together in the early weeks and months. Soon enough she will be up and around, and these touch times of the early months will be sweet memories.

Touch is not a self-indulgence but is actually a basic human need. I would recommend that you spoil your children with the indulgence of your touch. Perhaps there is nothing quite so personal and intimate as the gift of infant massage. Like parenthood in general, infant massage enriches the parent as well as the baby. It establishes a tradition of touch that will enhance your relationship with your child for years to come.

Peggy O'Mara
Editor and Publisher
Mothering Magazine