SINAI HOSPITAL
Sinai Hospital's Department of Surgery
Section of Urology
is sponsoring a free lecture.
James Relle, MD,
will present
Massage Gets Parents
In Touch With Babies
LAURA ACCINELLI SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
"America's Hidden Health Problem:
Women and Incontinence"
November 13, 1995
8 to 9:30 pm
West Bloomfield Public Library
Approximately 10 million Americans are affected by incontinence,
more than 85% are women. In many cases the condition is
curable and there are options available for
treatment and control.
For additional information, call
810-353-3060.
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Consult your hearing care professional for advice.
Marci Javril demonstrates the fine points of infant massage.
I
t's more than fun to hug and
snuggle and squeeze a new
baby. It's beneficial, too, some-
thing Mother Nature has
known all along.
Touch is the first and foremost
way parents relate to their bun-
dle of joy. Recently interest has
resurged in more formal tactile
interaction: infant massage.
"Baby massage," says Los An-
geles massage therapist Marci
Javril, "is as old as mothering."
Like the emphasis on nursing,
which is as much about holding
and touching and making eye
contact as getting mother's milk
into baby's belly, the physical
closeness and stimulation of mas-
sage are important for develop-
ment, she says.
Animals cuddle and lick their
young. Some cultures use pres-
sure points to subdue hiccups,
headaches and indigestion. And
many parents massage instinc-
tively when they rub sunscreen
or moisturizer on their babies.
"When you touch the skin,"
says Ms. Javril, "you are actual-
ly touching a part of the brain."
The physical, mental and emo-
tional benefits of massage on pre-
mature infants has been well-
documented. For example, a 1986
study by the Touch Research In-
stitute at the University of Miami
Medical School found that preterm
babies massaged three times a day
in 15-minute sessions gained 47
percent more weight than prema-
ture babies who were not.
The massaged preemies also
maintained their weight advan-
tage throughout the critical first
year.
All infants in the study con-
sumed the same number of calo-
ries a day, says director Tiffany
Field. The developing systems of
the massaged babies became
more efficient at converting calo-
ries into body weight as a direct
result of physical stimulation.
Nor did massage make the
treated infants more lethargic,
she says. Instead, they were ob-
servably more active then their
nonmassaged counterparts.
Gains also were made in mo-
tor skills, reflexes, general ori-
entation and overall comfort with
themselves and their surround-
ings, as measured by noted pedi-
atrician T. Berry Brazelton's
Neonatal Behavior Assessment
Scale.
MASSAGE page 64