Infant massage helps babies to sleep better, cry less and decreases colic. Infant massage enhances bonding, decreases anxiety and is relaxing for both baby and parent. It can be especially helpful in postnatal depression. It provides quality, relaxing time for Mum's and Dad's with their baby, away from busy and stressful lives. Cairns Baby Massage provides a 4 week course, of 1 hour classes, taught by a Certified Infant Massage Instructor. Both Mum's and Dad's can learn the skills to provide massages to their infants. Babies can start lessons from birth and continue to enjoy massage with no upper age limit. Most importantly, infant massage is fun! Why not come and try it, either in group or private classes and experience it yourself? My name is Alison Cupitt, I am 44years old, and a Certified Infant Massage Instructor and I will be teaching the classes at Cairns Infant Massage. Prior to becoming a Certified Infant Massage Instructor, I was a general paediatrician at Cairns Hospital. I have experience in neonatal care, general paediatrics, oncology, cardiology, and neurology and liaising with the Department of Child Safety. I passed my medical degree, MBChB with honours, in the UK in 1994. I started my paediatric training in 1995, passing the postgraduate paediatric exam in 1998, gaining Membership of the Royal College of Paediatrics ( M.R.C.P.). I emigrated to Australia in 1999 and continued my training in Brisbane and Darwin. I passed the equivalent Australian postgraduate exam, the Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of Paediatrics (F.R.A.C.P.) I moved to Cairns in 2006 and became a General Paediatrician in 2007. I was based at Cairns Hospital but was also part of the paediatric outreach service to Cape York, the Torres Straits, the Tablelands, Innisfail, Yarrabah and Wuchopperen. I retired in September 2012. While working in the neonatal unit, I was impressed by the value of Kangaroo Care for premature babies. It involves skin-to-skin touch of premature babies with their Mums and Dads. Babies can smell their parents and hear their heart beat which enhances the bonding process.During Kangaroo care babies had better oxygen levels and decreased stress with more stable, relaxed heart rates and breathing. Skin-skin contact was often the first positive touch experience for babies, after their only previous experience of touch being unpleasant,but necessary medical procedures. Babies who received Kangaroo Care gained weight faster and were often discharged sooner, when compared to babies who did not. Mums also benefited from this intimate experience with their babies with decreased stress hormones and increased levels of the hormone involved in breast milk production. Infant Massage naturally follows on from Kangaroo care. It is an ancient traditional skill used by mums in India, China and other South Asian countries. Infant massage is still based primarily on Indian massage strokes. In more recent years western society has recognised the benefits of infants massage to babies and their Mums. After my retirement, I decided to investigate the benefits of infants massage further. I attended an Infant Massage Information Service (I.M.I.S.) training course in November 2014, and became a Certified Infant Massage Instructor. This qualification allows me to teach Mums, Dads and other primary carers, the right massage techniques, to ensure babies and their parents experience the full benefits of this therapy. I started my business, Cairns Baby Massage in January 2015; a business dedicated to teaching Infant Massage to parents. I am looking forward to sharing this valuable skill with Mums, Dads and babies in Cairns, and the surrounding areas.
