Weight Gain--A Proven Effect of Infant Massage

Found this awesome blog post on ergobaby.com
Written by Dr. Henrik Norholt is a member of The World Association of Infant Mental Health.

Extensive research has been conducted on the effects of infant massage on stable pre-term infants. Certainly, premature birth is no trivial matter. At present approximately 14% of infants in the United States are born prematurely, according to The National Center for Health Statistics. Prematurity, in turn, is one of the leading causes of infant morbidity and mortality, and it results in approximately 15.5 billion dollars in hospital costs per year.
Following intensive care treatment, weight gain becomes the main criterion for hospital discharge. Thus, several interventions have been designed to promote preterm infant weight gain, including massage therapy.
Several independent, randomized, controlled studies confirm the efficacy of infant massage in promoting weight gain in premature babies, leading to earlier discharge from the hospital.
The infant massage protocol, in studies on the effects of massage therapy on neonatal intensive care unit preterm infants, involves moderate pressure stroking (tactile stimulation) and flexion and extension of arms and legs (kinesthetic stimulation). These sessions have varied between 10 and 15 minutes and have been held two to three times a day for 5 to 10 days.
Mothers as massage therapists
The question occasionally arises whether infant massage can be done by mothers or if professional physiotherapy is required to achieve these desired increases in weight gain.
An elegant study investigated this issue by assigning preterm infants to three groups. These three groups included one treatment group in which the mothers performed the massage, and another, in which professionals unrelated to the infant administered the treatment. These two groups were then compared to a control group. Over the 10-day study period, the two treatment groups gained significantly more weight compared to the control group suggesting that mothers were able to achieve the same effect as that of trained professionals.
Maternal depression
Benefits on the infant massage were not just observed for the babies involved. Interestingly, the mothers who massaged their infants in one study experienced a decrease in depression symptoms, which are often seen in mothers of preterm infants. In another study using mothers as the massage therapists, even one session was effective in lowering both the mothers’ depression and anxiety symptoms.
Moderate pressure is critical
The question of whether light or moderate pressure in the massage therapy is most effective in promoting weight gain has also been addressed in several studies. The evidence to hand suggests that moderate pressure is most optimum. Moderate pressure massage has also been shown to reduce stress behaviors in the massaged infants, compared to the control group.
Infant massage for full-term babies
Weight gain
The effects of infant massage on the baby’s weight gain are not just seen in premature babies.
In one study, parents delivered the massage to their full-term newborns from day one to the end of the first month. Those infants gained more weight and gained more length, as well as performed better on the thoroughly validated “Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale,” by the end of the month that the parents provided the massage.
The parents involved were taught by massage therapists in infant massage classes whereupon the parents could continue the massages at home.


Link to NIH research:   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2844909/