Other people, for example British infant massage therapists, regard
massage as good for emotional well-being through improving communication between
mothers and babies. New Zealand Maori mothers focus their massage on their baby’s knees
and ankles, believing it will make joints supple and their children graceful. In Bali massage
is thought to be particularly helpful for infant colic and in Russia for helping to develop the
central nervous system. In Japan, many pregnant women are massaged by their husbands,
using a form of Shiatsu called Tiakyo. This is regarded as helping them bond as parents and
with the baby in the womb. Fathers sometimes stimulate the foetus by pressing particular
pressure points on their wives’ bellies and issuing instructions such as ‘jump’ or ‘roll over’
because it is believed that the foetus will then recognise the father’s voice when born.