Gentle Touch® Infant Massage (Video)
Produced by pediatrician Andrea Gravatt and infant massage instructor Emma Miller
(1996), 47 minutes, digitally mastered; $29.95 for individuals, $59.95 for institutions.
Distributed by Gentle Touch, Inc., P.O. Box 6007, Asheville, NC, 28816 (1-888-333-3936).

Gentle Touch® Infant Massage, written by APPPAH member Emma Miller, M. Div., and Certified Infant Massage Instructor, is different from other infant massage videos in several ways. What I found most appealing is that the massage demonstrations are done in home environments by three parents (two mothers and a father), one at a time, in real time on live babies as opposed to being done in a gymnasium by a massage instructor quickly stroking a doll and remarking to a group of observing mothers, "You will be doing this more slowly at home."

After opening with a simple warning of contraindications, the video begins with an in-troduction by pediatrician and parent Dr. Olson Huff, Medical Director of the Ruth & Billy Graham Children's Health Center of Mission-St. Joseph's Health System in Asheville, North Carolina. Brief comments by other professionals, including the video's executive producer Dr. Andrea Gravatt, explaining the physical and emotional benefits of infant massage are non-intrusively interspersed throughout the video.

The majority of the video, however, is dedicated to step-by-step massage demonstra-tions narrated by the parents themselves. The Gentle Touch® technique honors the baby's boundaries and right to be touched by first having the parent ask the infant's permission to perform the massage. The video then shows what verbal and nonverbal cues to look for in the child that communicate her or his readiness to receive your touch. The video also ac-knowledges the child's right to refuse touch, and clearly demonstrates overstimulation sig-nals as well.

The massage routines are presented progressively (with many close-up camera angles), beginning with simple sustained touch, to broad effleurage strokes and finally focused pettrissage. Another unique element to the Gentle Touch® Infant Massage video is that it demonstrates various positions for the parents, since the standard kneeling or sitting cross-legged stances can be uncomfortable for adults with knee problems, even for 15-minute intervals. The video shows parents how to relax their own bodies and spirits first.

Soft music plays throughout the video and parents spontaneously sing nursery rhymes while stroking. It is also a pleasure to hear the babies cooing in response to the massage. The message and tone of the video are further enhanced by the subtitles and quotations about touch such as: "To touch is to give life" and "We need to touch just like we need food and water."

For either individual or group instruction, Gentle Touch® Infant Massage is the best I have seen for incorporating the medical statistics, demonstrating the stroking techniques and setting a mood for this special type of infant-parent bonding.

Review by Theresa M. Danna, Certified Massage Therapist