Ask the Expert: Tanya James of MotherMassage.co.uk

Who are you and what do you do?

This is a question I always dread! I could reel off my qualifications from the last 30 odd years as there are many but that still doesn't fully explain what I do! But what I feel I do is work alongside women of all ages to help them get the most out of their body in whatever way I can. Each women is different, has a different story and a different issue so I pride myself in listening, looking and assessing their needs and their goals and working then with them to help achieve these. Sometimes it will be with massage therapy, sometimes through movement or even doing what I can and then recognising they may need to move onto another professional. I like to think that no matter where you are in life or how 'broken' you may feel there is always a way of helping.

What do you do to help women postpartum?

So some women come literally just to relax. To have some switch off time from life and spend their session quietly giving into the massage bed and my hands!

Others come with postural issues or aches and pains from Pregnancy or Postnatal life so I will be looking at a variety of different things, to see what's causing the pain/discomfort before I can actually start to help them. Helping them may involve using a number of massage techniques, or assessing their posture and movement, finding out how they sleep, move etc during the day. I will also be looking at Nutrition to see if some tweaks may help them in some way...really looking at how they live.

Others come wanting me to work with their scar tissue from a C Section. Not all scars cause issues mums are aware of but all notice a difference once they have been treated. This also is true with Perineal scars, so I can talk women through ways to work safely with their episiotomy to treat the scar as well as some gentle stretches to help mobilise the scar tissue.

Some mums come with issues with a Diastasis (separation of the front line) so I work with them with massage and movement and nutrition advice to show them what they can do moving forward.

Mums are able to bring their baby with them and either use the chair I have or lay them next to them on the bed as my bed is an extra wide one. However time alone is also really important so this choice is theirs.

How do you specifically help postpartum women with their caesarean scars?

Firstly I work out how the scar is affecting them. It may be restricting movements or it may be they feel a pulling, tightness or even pain when they do certain movements. Depending on what I find depends on how I proceed, but generally I work globally with the body first, working back towards the scar itself. If they feel they can, I will show them techniques they can use at home in between sessions. Most scars need 2 sessions but sometimes more but the more the mum can work with her own body the more it will help.

We will also discuss nutrition as what we eat and how we hydrate can make a massive difference to how we heal.

Sometimes I show them stretches or strength exercises that will help but I really treat each woman individually.

How can this help with recovery?

When we have a scar not only is the body 'disrupted' but the fascia is altered, and it's the fascia that can cause issues more often than not. Fascia is a connective tissue coating every muscle and bone and it can end up almost 'sticking' to the muscle and clumping and this can cause a feeling of hardening on the scar, and around the scar. Also we can find that the internal organs can become 'stuck' to one another after an op so working fascially helps with this.

Eating optimally helps the body to heal quicker.

Stretches will help the 'global' movement of the body so gently easing out any restrictions. When we stretch we should add some strengthening too as this works better for the body.

What is the one piece of advice you would give a person who has had a caesarean?

To take their time to get back to exercise. Move, yes, but this is major abdominal surgery and there really is no need to rush and push yourself back into exercise.

You can find Tanya at The Little Therapy Space or mothermassage.co.uk.