Massage That Baby

I’m well aware of the fact that baby massage is beneficial to babies. What I hadn’t heard before, however, is that it can also directly benefit mothers (my emphasis added):

Gentle massage reduces the level of stress hormones in babies under a year old, helping them sleep better and cry less, a British study finds. But better than that, it also appears to help mothers suffering from postnatal depression.

Pretty cool. While more studies would need to be done to make a definitive statement on the subject, the one study where this effect was observed “did show depressed mothers who were able to take several classes on massage ‘felt better’ and showed signs of bonding more closely with their babies.” I wonder what it can do for stressed out dads.

Here’s the article on Canada.com.