The first Irish Infant Massage Instructors course was held in Kinsale Co. Cork in 2001. This came about due to the dedication and hard work of Kirsty Howthorn. Kirsty has been working tirelessly in Ireland for the past four years promoting Infant Massage. Kirsty had previously trained as an instructor with the International Association of Infant Massage, this was founded by Vimala Mc Clure in 1986, and has been growing in strength ever since. There are now 50 instructors in Ireland. Infant Massage Instructors courses are now held twice a year in Ireland, more details below.

Infant massage is not a fad, it is an ancient art that connects you to your baby, it also helps you to understand your baby's particular nonverbal language and to respond with love and respectful listening. The deep emotional bonds formed in infancy lay a foundation for a lifetime of trust, courage, dependability, faith and love. Your child also learns what healthy, respectful touch is by being touched in this way.(Eliot 1999)

The benefits of infant massage are:
• Helps bonding between parent and baby;
• A parent becomes more confident handling his/her   baby
• If the mother is breastfeeding it is a good way for   the father to spend time getting to know his baby
• For the baby the benefits are numerous it helps with
• Digestion
• Elimination
• The circulatory system
• It calms and relaxes the baby.

Through the massage classes, a venue is provided for mothers to meet, where they can spend time with their baby learning massage and also benefit from the support of other mothers. Durning the class the instructor demonstrates the movements to the class on a doll, with each parent massaging their own baby. After the babies have been massaged mothers talk about a wide range of topics, anything from feeding baby's to preparing for the first family break.
Other instructors have other areas of interest, some work with premature or sick babies, some with babies who have a disability and others offer a postnatal support group.

Infant massage is fun and satisfying for both parent and baby. You can massage your baby from a very early age, there is now evidence that shows that sick or premature babies benefit from 'touch' massage.(Mc Clure 1998) You can continue to massage your baby as she/he grows and becomes a toddler, young child, adolescent even into adulthood. Of course the strokes will change and the areas massaged will vary. Infant massage is an enjoyable way to spend time with your baby.

IRELAND
Mary Broe
17 Glenvara Park
Knocklyon
Dublin 16
Ireland
Tel: 353 1 493 6347

References:-
Lise Eliot 1999 What's going on in there?
The Penguin Press Great Britain

Vimala Mc Clure Infant Massage,
a handbook for Loving Parents Bantan Books