Parents are taught how to increase bonding by the gentle application of body massage to their babies.  The result is often less stressed babies and more confident parents.

It is never too late to begin massage.  Whether your baby is a newborn or several years old, massage can bring immediate and lasting results.  Expectant parents often take infant massage instruction in advance so they are ready to begin this wonderful loving touch right from the start.

Baby Massage is often used where babies have been premature or have been delivered by Caesarian section to enhance baby-mother bonding.

Baby massage and infant massage derive from the traditional massage therapy used by Egyptian, Greek, Indian and Far Eastern civilisations thousands of years ago.  Baby massage blends Indian massage methods from ancient Ayurvedic medicine and the Swedish massage techniques developed by former gymnast and physician Per Henrik Ling in the 18th century.

Baby massage was introduced to the West by American Vimala McClure.  Over the past 20 years infant massage has become widely recognized as a powerful means to promote infant development and attachment with caregivers, while providing numerous physiological and emotional benefits.  Infant Massage Instructor Training curriculums reflect a major paradigm shift in the refinement of individualized touch instruction guided by concentrated observation of parent and infant behaviour; the subsequent skill level of many instructors is breathtaking.  The practice of infant touch and massage is rapidly expanding as a parenting tradition on a global scale.

In 1973 Vimala McClure Schneider found herself working in a little orphanage in India. It was summer, and extremely hot..  Money ran out quickly; she barely subsisted on donations solicited door-to-door.  The little girls who were her charges were always sick and required a lot of attention.  The older girls taught her how to cook and how to massage the little ones with mustard oil.

In 1976, expecting her first child, Vimala spent most of her pregnancy reading and writing.  She decided that she wanted to write and to be involved in some aspect of parenting or childbirth education.

She practised the Indian massage on her baby every day, and was thoroughly delighted with the experience and its results.  She began to put together all the information she had learned about infant growth and development, and all the applicable research on touching.

Vimala incorporated Swedish strokes and some ideas from reflexology and yoga (she had been teaching yoga for ten years), experimenting with her baby and taking detailed note of his changes.  She then put together a curriculum for a five-week course and began to teach in her home.  For the next few years these activities along with raising her children (her daughter came along two years later) consumed all of her time.

In the last 2 decades our thousands of active and competent instructors have been trained to teach infant massage in every capacity with parents, infants, and children.  Infant massage instructors teach parent/infant classes in settings that range from in-patient and out-patient hospital programs to home visitation and private instruction, to community based classes.   Instructors include: wellbeing practitioners of all types, complementary therapists, childlife specialists, childbirth educators, social workers, early interventionists, speech pathologists, case workers, doctors, massage therapists, nurses, midwives, lactation consultants, and OTs and PTs.

The International Association of Infant Massage Instructors was born when Audrey Downes sponsored an instructor training in Chico, California in 1981.  Audrey took on the task of directing the organisation, and spent the next several years working very hard to bring it into a viable framework.

The Association’s purpose is to promote nurturing touch and communication through training, education and research so that parents, caregivers and children are loved, valued and respected throughout the world community.

The H Club has developed further the tuition routines of the International Association of Infant Massage. 

Baby and infant massages works on four levels: bonding, relaxation, stimulation and relief.  Interaction through touch develops strong bonds between the parent and child.  Human contact is a basic need and an important part of creating trust, faith and love.  When these foundations are laid down at an early stage, they can last a lifetime.

The relaxing effects of baby massage can help to regulate both parent and child's sleep patterns and breathing.  Relaxation releases endorphins (the feel-good chemical in the body) and reduces stress levels.  The hormone 'oxytocin' is also raised aiding breastfeeding and beneficial if the mother is suffering post-natal depression.

Baby massage stimulates the child's bodily functions such as digestion and circulation and boosts the immune and nervous systems.  Baby massage improves physical movement and joint mobility leading to better co-ordination.  Massaging also relieves the symptoms of infant colic, wind and constipation and the discomfort felt during teething.