Garbhini Abhyanga is the Ayurvedic oil massage for pregnancy. Warm oil, slow strokes, and sixty minutes lying on your side with pillows where you need them. I give it from the second trimester onwards at my practice in the centre of Amsterdam.
What Garbhini Abhyanga is
Questions about this treatment? Write to me, I answer every message myself.
You lie on your back, and side on a warm table, with pillows under the belly, between the knees and under the head. Halfway through I help you turn to the other side. I pour warm oil, usually plain sesame or a mild herbal oil that is safe in pregnancy. The strokes are long and slow, over the back, hips, legs, feet, arms, shoulders, neck, fsce and head. The belly I only touch lightly, with oil and the flat of the hand, and only if you want that. There is no deep pressure and no pressure on the lower back or the inner ankles. The aim is to ease the weight the body is carrying, help the legs drain and calm the nervous system. For an hour you are the one being looked after.
Where it comes from
In the classical texts the care of a pregnant woman is called garbhini paricharya: a month-by-month guide to food, rest and daily habits. Gentle oil massage belongs to it, together with warm baths and light meals, so that the body stays supple for the birth. The word garbhini simply means a pregnant woman, and abhyanga is oil massage. Nothing in this treatment is new. It is the daily routine of Ayurveda adapted to a body that is carrying another. The Charaka Samhita sets out the month-by-month care of the pregnant woman [1]; Sushruta names oil massage and warm baths among it [2].
What it is for
What people come to me for:
- A heavy, aching lower back and hips
- Swollen legs and feet, tired calves
- Poor sleep in the second and third trimester
- Tension in the shoulders and neck
- Dry, tight skin on the belly, hips and breasts
- Worry, restlessness, a mind that will not settle
- Wanting to be held and cared for in a time when you are caring for someone else
A trial of twice-weekly massage from mid-pregnancy found less depression and anxiety, less leg and back pain, and fewer premature and low-birthweight births than in a control group [3]. A review by the same group reads the field as a whole, including the limits of these small studies [4]. None of this was Ayurvedic massage specifically. The oils and the routine are classical; the evidence is for gentle massage in pregnancy in general. The US National Institutes of Health summarises the research on Ayurveda as a whole [5].
How often to come
This depends on why you come. These are the rhythms I suggest most often; we settle on yours at the intake.
| If you come for | I suggest |
|---|
| The second trimester | Once every three to four weeks |
| The third trimester | Every two weeks, more often in the last month if it helps you sleep |
| Back, hip or leg complaints | Weekly for three to four weeks, then every two weeks |
| A first visit | One session after week twelve. Bring your midwife’s notes if there is anything I should know |
What to combine it with
Treatments that work well alongside it:
And at home, in the days around the treatment:
- Warm, cooked meals, little raw food and nothing heavy before you come
- Warm sesame oil on the belly, hips and breasts at home every evening, left on for ten minutes before a shower
- Legs up against the wall for ten minutes a day when the feet swell
- An early night on the day of the treatment
Practical
60 minutes, €95, from week twelve of pregnancy. Monday to Friday and some Saturdays at my practice in the centre of Amsterdam; home visits in Amsterdam with a travel fee, which many women prefer in the last weeks. Wear something you can easily take off and bring hair ties.
- Eat lightly, and nothing heavy in the ninety minutes before.
- Tell me beforehand about pain, injuries, pregnancy or conditions you are being treated for.
- Keep the rest of the day easy if you can. The body is warm and open, so a hat helps on cold days.
When not to book
Better to wait, or to choose another treatment, with:
- The first trimester (the first twelve weeks)
- High blood pressure, pre-eclampsia or protein in the urine
- Any bleeding, or a pregnancy your midwife or doctor calls high risk
- Placenta praevia
- A blood clot or swelling in one leg that is painful or warm
- Fever, nausea that is not settling, or a day when you feel unwell
- Skin problems on the areas I would work on
If your midwife has told you anything about your pregnancy that you are unsure of, ask her first, then me. I would rather say no than take a risk with you and your child.
Afterwards
Rinse the oil off at home under a warm shower with water only. Drink warm water through the day, and if you can, lie down for half an hour. Tell your midwife at the next check-up that you are having massage; I am happy to answer her questions.
Booking
Before a first treatment I suggest an Ayurvedic consultation of forty minutes for €90, so I know which oil and which treatment fit you. If you already know what you want, write to me or book directly.
Before a first visit, read the preparation notes and contraindications and the cancellation and rescheduling policy.
References
Numbers in square brackets in the text point to the entries below. Journal references are given in the National Library of Medicine style; each was checked against the Crossref and PubMed registries.
- Sharma PV, translator. Caraka Samhita: text with English translation. Vol. 1. Varanasi: Chaukhambha Orientalia; 1981. Sharirasthana, chapter 8 (Jatisutriya): the care of the pregnant woman month by month.
- Srikantha Murthy KR, translator. Susruta Samhita. Vol. 1. Varanasi: Chaukhambha Orientalia; 2004. Sharirasthana, chapter 10 (Garbhini Vyakarana): regimen for the pregnant woman, including oil massage and warm baths.
- Field T, Diego M, Hernandez-Reif M, Deeds O, Figueiredo B. Pregnancy massage reduces prematurity, low birthweight and postpartum depression. Infant Behav Dev. 2009;32(4):454-60. doi: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2009.07.001. [DOI] [PubMed]
- Field T. Pregnancy and labor massage. Expert Rev Obstet Gynecol. 2010;5(2):177-81. doi: 10.1586/eog.10.12. [DOI] [PubMed] [PMC free article]
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Ayurvedic medicine: in depth. Bethesda (MD): National Institutes of Health. [NCCIH]
The frequencies and combinations above are my general advice from practice, not medical treatment. If you are being treated for a condition, tell your doctor and tell me.