Other articles from the Pitcorthie Newsletter:-

June 2011
March 2011
December 2010
September 2010
June 2010
March 2010
December 2009
September 2009
June 2009
March 2009
December 2008
September 2008
June 2008
March 2008
December 2007

I was reminded recently of how stressful and rewarding children can be. The first event had nothing to do with children – it was all about elderly relatives - but you’ll understand the connection with children if I tell you the story.  My husband and I were recently ‘lucky’ enough to take our elderly mothers on a short trip to the bulb fields in Holland. It was my mother-in-law’s first flight and trip abroad, but dealing with the ‘grannies’ on holiday was just like dealing with small children. From: “are we nearly there yet”, through the tantrums over food and drink, and the panic of losing them in a foreign city, to the relief at the end of a long and gruelling  day of getting them safely tucked-up in bed with sufficient time for a G&T and an hour with my favourite magazine! 

The second event was the birth of my niece’s third beautiful daughter. She already has two incredibly active girls under five and a husband who’s often away on business, so you can understand how demanding and difficult her life is at present.

Looking after three pre-school children (and two grannies on holiday!) is demanding and stressful, but it is nothing compared with the physical stresses and strains on a woman’s body as she goes from conception, through birth and into the first few months with a new baby.

Having a baby is not only a life changing event; but it is also physically and emotionally demanding, as a woman’s body undergoes enormous changes, from morning sickness, tiredness, stress and anxiety to increasing weight, altered stance, change of pelvic tilt, back ache and sometimes symphysis pubis pain.  The list seems endless!

In order to help mothers through pregnancy and the demanding months immediately after birth, I’ve recently trained in maternity reflexology, which is targeted at mums to be and new mums.

One of the first things I was shown on the course was the resemblance between the shape of the bones of the pelvis and the bones of the feet.  This really amazed me and confirmed much of my reflexology training, which links areas of the feet to parts of the body, enabling manipulation of the feet to treat various conditions.

Maternity reflexology is excellent for improving both the mother and baby’s health, and many pregnancy ailments respond really well to treatment. During a maternity reflexology treatment a reflexologist works on the mother’s feet to: balance her hormones, expand the pelvic region to accommodate the growing baby and the birth itself, ease back ache through spinal twists and rubs, and improve breathing through lung presses.

 So… if you’re pregnant, trying or you’ve just given birth and want to find out more about how reflexology can help you through these wonderful but challenging times, check out www.tranquilhaven.co.uk or telephone Catherine Harper on 07962 975 124, or e-mail catherine@tranquilhaven.co.uk