A Bristol Shiatsu practitioner Urges Women to Take Maternity Leave Earlier

Pregnant women could benefit from taking maternity leave earlier in their pregnancies, giving them more time to prepare for giving birth.

A Bristol Shiatsu practitioner is urging people to reconsider their use of maternity leave, concerned that too many women work too close, or even right up to their due date.

“Back in 1990 when I was pregnant most women would have most of the third trimester as maternity leave. This would give them time to prepare. And they would have longer postnatally, often a year, or at least six months.

“And then if they had another child they would often stop work a little longer. Meanwhile the NHS itself offered more ante-natal classes and better postnatal support and care; and the caesarean rate was not so high,” Bristol Shiatsu practitioner Suzanne Yates says. 

Suzanne is also author of Shiatsu for Midwives and Pregnancy and Childbirth: A Holistic Approach to Massage and Bodywork and member of the Shiatsu Society.

Shiatsu originated in Japan. It’s a hands-on therapy to aid the body healing itself.

Suzanne is concerned that women are not preparing themselves ‘physically’ or ’emotionally’ for the rigorous process of motherhood.

She continues: “These days pregnancy and birth are seen as a time when lots of medical attention is given – and while intervention may be appropriate in some cases and is essential in life-threatening situations – we tend to forget as a culture that these are essentially natural processes.

“Even if you need a C section, you can still use some of the skills you have learnt in preparing for a natural birth, and indeed, it is perhaps even more important to use them then to help women process a more complex birth.”

For further information contact Suzanne at: suzanneyates@btinternet.com.