Is massage therapy safe during the first trimester of pregnancy?

One of the main reasons some practitioners and spas refuse to massage first-trimester clients is the fear of causing a miscarriage. Miscarriages occur very frequently, perhaps in as often as half of confirmed pregnancies- and most miscarriages can't be avoided. They rarely are caused by anything expectant women do or don't do. In nearly half of all known losses, the embryo was chromosomally abnormal and not viable or able to sustain life. Other possible risk factors include genital and reproductive structural abnormalities (retroversion of the uterus, bicornuate uterus, fibroid tumors, etc.), infections (chlamydia, rubella, listeria, ureaplasma, mycoplasma), maternal disease (diabetes, renal disease, thyroid conditions, nutritional deficiencies), ectopic pregnancies, hormonal imbalances, immunological rejection, maternal age and environmental factors such as first- or second-hand smoke, excessive alcohol consumption, exposure to organic solvents, and excessive radiation. Massage is ...  more