Which providers give traditional bodywork treatments to breastfed babies?

Many breastfed babies are referred to traditional bodyworkers when problems arise

"Bodywork (noun): therapeutic touching or manipulation of the body using specialized techniques." Merriam-Webster Dictionary

When I talk about traditional bodywork therapy, I'm referring to chiropractic, osteopathy, craniosacral therapy, and myofunctional therapy. (Please see the more comprehensive list of bodywork providers below.) I respectfully acknowledge the long traditions of practice out of which these therapies have arisen.

I use the term 'traditional bodywork therapy' to distinguish between the dominant bodywork therapies being applied to babies at the moment, and what I call 'evolutionary bodywork' in the Possums or NDC programs. Evolutionary bodywork has been strongly informed by my personal and professional engagement with traditional bodywork therapy, but is fundamentally focussed on the mother-baby biological system, rather than the baby alone.

• You can find out about how I have benefited from traditional bodywork practices both personally and professionally throughout the whole of my adult life here.

• You can find out why my own (medical) profession and Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAMs) have much to learn from each other here.

• You can find out what the science does not support the appication of traditional bodywork for breastfeeding problems here. It's important to closely analyse research publications as they come out, to determine whether the authors claim of benefit is actually supported by the data, and to determine what biases, if any, have been applied in interpreting the data.

What is a course of traditional bodywork?

Once it became established that babies were being overtreated with frenotomies in multiple countries, including from my own work with an Australian PhD student, International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) and other breastfeeding support professionals started to refer babies for bodywork interventions when breastfeeding problems emerged, referring on for frenotomy once it became clear that infant manual therapy and exercises (and the passage of time) didn't help.

Bodywork course durations are highly variable. Craniosacral therapists may recommend that baby has one to three sessions of bodywork, each lasting about 45 minutes. Other traditional bodyworkers recommend between two and ten sessions of bodywork each lasting 30 to 90 minutes, depending on the severity of the tongue and jaw restriction diagnosed by the bodyworker.

You are also likely to be given exercises to do inside and outside your baby's mouth and to your baby's body. You may be asked to do these exercises multiple times a day for a number of weeks.

What training or background do traditional bodywork therapists have?

A bodyworker who treats breastfed babies may be an

• Orofacial myologist

• Oromyofunctional therapist

• An osteopath

• A craniosacral therapist

• A chiropractor

• A massage therapist.

A bodyworker who treats breastfed babies may also be an upskilled

• International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)

• Occupational therapist

• Speech pathologist

• Registered nurse

• Midwife.

The powerful effect of the passage of time

It's true that some breastfeeding problems resolve with the passage of time alone. I'm definitely not proposing that 'letting time pass' is a helpful response from breastfeeding support professionals (although there may be occasions when it is helpful to let some time pass)! There is usually so much to do to help breastfeeding women when problems arise - which is why I've created Possums Breastfeeding & Lactation.

But it's worth knowing that when things seem to improve over a period of time, the improvement may be because you and your baby have been experimenting your way through the breastfeeding problems at the same time as your baby matures, rather than because of the bodywork therapy.

This is why the most convincing scientific studies randomise participants into a placebo and an intervention group, for a comparison which takes into account the effects of the passage of time, to show what really does help over and above the passage of time.

Recommended resources

Traditional bodywork therapies have been fundamental to my own, my family's, and my patients' health and healing

Who gives traditional bodywork therapy to breastfed babies and why?

What happens in traditional bodywork therapy for babies with breastfeeding problems and why this conflicts with a science-based, evolutionary and neurodevelopmental perspective

Extrapolating traditional bodywork therapy back to breastfeeding babies isn't consistent with evolutionary and neurodevelopmental science nor with breastfeeding as a global health priority

Breastfeeding, orofacial development and traditional bodywork therapy

What does the research tell us about traditional bodywork for diagnoses of restricted oral connective tissues in babies with breastfeeding problems?

Reductionism vs complex biological systems: why traditional bodywork therapy lets breastfeeding women and their babies down

Nine reasons why traditional bodywork therapy makes life with your baby harder than it needs to be