Our first speaker was Angela Underdown, who is an Associate Professor of Public Health in the Early Years and Deputy Director of Warwick Infant and Family Well-being Unit, University of Warwick Medical School.  Angela spoke about the Cochrane Systematic Review, which was carried out to find hard evidence to support the anecdotal favourable effects of Infant Massage.  It is traditional in many countries and we saw an interesting video of mothers massaging their babies in Nepal, which was a very physical process, rather than the gentle medium for interaction which we see in the UK.  It has also gained in popularity over the last few years in the UK. There were four main findings from the Cochrane Systematic Review:

• Impact on Hormones – levels of the stress hormones cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine were lower and melatonin was increased.
• Effect on Sleep – infants receiving 30 minutes of massage before bedtime for 14 days, had higher levels of melatonin, which helps with the adjustment of circadian rhythms.  Also, the lower stress hormones, encourage relaxation prior to bedtime.
• Growth & Health – study of 58 Korean orphans, who were looked after 13 babies to one carer, showed a significant increase in all areas of growth, which was sustained at 6 months.  Head circumference was one of the measures where an increase denotes growth of the brain.
• Interaction – maternal-infant interaction was seen to improve in one study by Onozawa and Glover (2001), this was due to the coaching that mothers had received on recognising infant cues.

The conclusions were that there was some evidence to support the benefits of infant massage and no evidence of any harm, however, further research is needed.

Angela continued with information from her own recent research project, which involved observing infant massage groups in community settings in the UK.  Observations were made of the classes of 14 teachers who have been trained by  various training providers, the mothers were interviewed as well as their mother-baby interactions being video-taped, before and after the 6 weeks of infant massage training.  There was more going on in the classes than just touch, infant massage offered opportunities for:

• Observation of baby states
• Non-directive affirmation of parents’ expertise in containing their babies’ needs
• Reciprocity e.g. mum picking up baby’s cues and reacting to them
• ‘Active’ language e.g. asking permission or whether they want a particular part of their body massaging
• Infant directed speech and singing
• Fun and enjoyment

Not only did infant massage help mums to manage the feelings of their babies, the massage teacher also ‘contains’ mum’s feelings regarding her baby’s behaviour, so that they can learn to acknowledge their baby’s emotions, but move it on.  Participants reported increased confidence in making decisions about their baby e.g. the best time to massage, increased understanding of their baby’s cues, realising that they were not the only ones with particular issues with their baby and being able to share experiences.  The Care-Index which is a coding system for parental sensitivity and infant co-operation, showed more positive interactions between mum and baby, and that babies were more vocal and interactive.  For mums with Post Natal Depression, a containing environment is key as they may be reluctant to attend infant massage classes.  Group size needs to be smaller and the consistency of the teacher is also very important.

The research will soon be in the Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology and Angela will advise the details at the time, which we will share with you.  I am also delighted to be able to confirm that Angela has now joined the Guild’s Committee in the role of Research Co-ordinator, which is excellent news for us all.