When I first learned about using infant massage as an intervention to support vulnerable families, I was completely unaware that (unlike midwifery, child health nursing and social work) infant massage is an unregulated occupation here in Australia. So, it was only pure luck that I happened to enrol in a course that met my needs and that had some evidence behind it.
I first came across “infant massage” as an intervention about eleven years ago when I was working in an early intervention program for high-risk toddlers and young children. I had become intrigued by a growing body of research that supported the use of infant massage in reducing the types of behavioural and mental health risks we saw in the children in our service. It is also a deeply empowering and flexible way of working with families: eventually I moved into infant massage full-time because it allowed me to work in much closer alignment with my values (but that’s another story!).
Perhaps because it is such an uplifting way of working with families, or perhaps because infant massage is relatively easily integrated within existing programs, services and budgets, eleven years on, we have hundreds of midwives, child health nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, early childhood workers and ordinary community members training to deliver infant massage education programs to families.
The range of infant massage courses available to nurses, midwives, social workers, occupational therapists and many others means you can choose an infant massage course that suits your needs. The most important thing is to remember that not all infant massage training is the same, so it is important to ask the right questions to find the course that is the “right fit” for you.
1. What program(s) will I be able to teach?
Different infant massage training will qualify you to teach different types of infant massage programs to families. For example, here at Baby in Mind, our training qualifies you to teach The First Touch Program. This is a parent-baby program based on a combination of the International Association of Infant Massage guidelines developed by Vimala McClure, and incorporates more recent research which identifies the features of high-quality infant massage programs for promoting infant mental health. Depending on your other qualifications and areas of expertise, you may also adapt this program to working in more specialised areas, such as with babies born pre-term.
Other infant massage training will enable you to teach different programs, which emphasise different elements.
2. Does the program meet some minimum safety standards?
Research points to a number of features of infant massage programs which ensure safety for babies and their families and to support improved infant mental health outcomes. Because infant massage is not regulated in Australia, not all courses will train you to deliver a program that meets these minimum standards. Based on the available research, some of the most important feature to check before enrolling, is whether the parent-baby program you are qualified to teach:
- Runs for a minimum of 5 sessions;
- Allows for a maximum of eight families per group;
- Requires the instructor/ facilitator to use a doll, rather than massaging babies themselves;
- Is baby-led and cue-based (i.e. does not have one-size-fits-all-rules such as “never massage a baby after a bath”); and
- Includes activities which support “mentalising” (the parent’s capacity to consider and reflect on the baby’s internal emotional world).
3. What are the practical components and maximum class sizes?
Some infant massage training courses offer short and rapid-fire courses that involve no practical components (and, in some cases, no attendance at a class). It’s okay to be sitting in a huge room with dozens of other people, or to learn ideas from a book, if you are dealing with abstract ideas. This style of course might suit students with no ability to travel to a class or who are looking at infant massage from a more theoretical or mechanical perspective.
At the other end of the spectrum, some courses will offer a large practical component with plenty of opportunity to hone your skills in observing parent-baby interactions, and responding to these in the context of infant massage. This sort of training is more likely to suit health workers who need to be able to apply and adapt infant massage to “real-world” settings where babies and families can have diverse and, in some cases, more complex dynamics.
Of course, more intimate class sizes and hands-on practical elements also make it possible to provide you with a more individualised learning experience.
4. What does the course actually teach?
Some infant massage courses focus heavily on the massage techniques and gaining “technical accuracy” in the program. These types of programs tend to focus on building your role as an “expert” in the mechanics of infant massage.
Other programs instead focus on your role as a facilitator in empowering parents to be the expert in caring for, and understanding, their own babies. These courses will include infant massage, but expand to provide you with a broader range of skills and knowledge needed to support parents and babies to bond with each other, using a variety of sensory-based interactions (not only massage, but also other forms of touch, voice, eye-contact and movement). This “cue-based” approach to infant massage will develop your role as an educator rather than a therapist, and build your skills in supporting stronger, baby-led interactions between parent and child.
5. Is the course nationally accredited?
Most infant massage courses in Australia have some form of endorsement. For example, the course offered by Baby in Mind is endorsed for Continuing Professional Development by the Australian College of Midwives, the Australian Association of Social Workers, Occupational Therapy Australia, among others. However, endorsement is not the same as accreditation.
Accreditation is a more formal standard, and is only issued to courses that meet strict government guidelines. In order to be accredited a course must meets the relevant national competency standards, and comply with rules about educational standards, fees, enrolments and complaints. Accredited qualifications are more widely recognised by employers and insurance agencies. They also tend to have substantiated quality standards because of the requirements of accreditation.
To find out more about training in Infant Massage Education, you can visit the Baby in Mind website or visit the Australian Government Training Website.
