”Being touched and caressed, being massaged is food for the infant. Food as necessary as minerals, vitamins and proteins. Deprived of this food, the name of which is love, babies would rather die. And they often do. We have to feed babies, fill them both inside and outside. We must speak to their skins, we must speak to their backs which thirst and hunger and cry as much as their bellies.”
Fredrik Leboyer, French obstretician who introduced the soft way of delivery, lecturer and the author of ”Loving Hands”.
The quotation above gives the answer. The advantages are numerous. As a parent your learn how to read your baby´s signals, help it to stimulate all senses. Contact, communication and respect develop. Massage stimulates both psychologically and physically – digestion, immune system, breathing and relaxation. The list can be made even longer…