Bodywork is good for your body for many reasons: it increases the oxygen levels in your muscles and soft tissue by improving circulation, it relieves achy muscles and nerve pain, it improves sleep, and it reduces swelling and joint pain. Pregnancy and postpartum massage, dynamic body balancing, and craniosacral therapies also affect hormones. Rather than look at caring for your body during pregnancy as a luxury, you should think of it as a fundamental part of prenatal care. Keeping your body in balance can translate into less aches and pains, as well as shorter, smoother deliveries and faster postpartum recoveries.

According to the American Pregnancy Association, "Modern investigation and research is proving that prenatal massage therapy can be a very instrumental ingredient in women's prenatal care and should be given careful consideration."

​Benefits of bodywork specific to pregnancy include:

• reduces stress hormones (cortisol, norepinephrine)
• increases "happy" hormones (dopamine, seratonin)
• helps train your body to relax - leading to shorter, easier labor with better pain management skills
• relief from low back pain, sciatica, symphasis pubic dysfunction, swelling, nausea, heartburn, round ligament pain, and other pregnancy aches
• Newborns are less likely to have complications when mom cares for her body during pregnancy
• If you are prone to postpartum depression or discover yourself amidst the roller coaster of emotions as a new parent, postnatal massage can help with hormone balancing