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Specialized breast masseuses cash in on nursing moms
By Yao Minji |
April 22, 2012, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
The hottest new job in the postpartum care market is specialized breast masseuse who helps mothers with problems producing milk and making it flow. Yao Minji makes a clean breast of it.
As women rush to have babies in this auspicious Chinese Lunar Year of the Dragon, there's a growing demand for specialized maternity nurses and also for breast masseuses or "lactogogues" to increase mothers' milk.
When a new mother has trouble nursing or blocked ducts, traditional methods call for running a wooden comb over the breasts, placing fermented dough on the breasts and feeding herbal soups to increase energy, blood circulation and thin milk.
The demand for specialized postpartum maternity and child care is increased by the fact that only-children today are the focus of two families' affections and aspirations. More emphasis is placed on giving a baby a healthy start in life, starting with breast-feeding.
This has boosted the postpartum job market, creating popular new jobs like yuesao or maternity maids, literally "moon sisters-in-law" who care for the new mother and baby in the crucial month after birth. During this month it is a Chinese health tradition for new mothers to stay indoors, rest and eat nutritious food and follow strict dos and don'ts (tradition known as yuezi or sitting out a month).
Specialized ayis now make around 8,000 yuan (US$1,270) for one month, double their average monthly earnings in 2007, when the job first became popular.
This year, the new hottest postpartum job is cui ru shi (literally "push milk teacher") or "lactagogue" breast masseuses, who give breast massages to new mothers who have problems producing milk and making it flow. Many have blocked milk ducts.
A 90-minute specialized breast massage typically costs 300 yuan. A popular masseuse can make nearly three times as much as a maternity maid or yuesao who usually lives in and cares for mother and child.
The idea is to clear clogged or blocked milk ducts through careful massage on the ducts and acupuncture points.
Doctors say this massage may help if performed correctly, but worry about unqualified masseuses, who may harm breasts if they press too hard and damage tissues.
"If massage is incorrect, it can harm the breast and may even cause mastitis (inflammation of the mammary glands). So they need to be careful," Dr Zhuang Zhigang of the Breast Department of Shanghai No.1 Maternity and Child Health Hospital tells Shanghai Daily.
Many masseuses hold a specialized "lactogogue" certificates, some for advanced levels. China has a long tradition of massage for health and breast massage for beauty.
There is no nationally recognized training institution or set of qualifications, and the fresh market is unregulated.
Nevertheless, the practice has proved popular among young mothers who prefer breast-feeding but have problems with blocked milk ducts.
"It's so painful that only breast-feeding mothers can understand. I was in so much pain and my breasts were sore and engorged, and my baby was so hungry. But the liquid just got stuck, and there was nothing I could do so I got agitated, which made it worse," says 23-year-old Kathy Zhang.
She learned of the new service through a colleague who had a successful experience, with immediate positive results.
"After one 90-minute session, the ducts were clear and I started having milk. That was quite amazing," she recalls.
It is not uncommon for new nursing mothers to experience difficulty producing milk and to feel discomfort or even pain. Sometimes, breast congestion gets severe and may result in infection or mastitis.
The causes of blocked milk ducts are complicated, including lack of rest, skipping breast-feeding sessions so milk builds up, and stress. Some mothers are just prone to blocked or clogged milk ducts. It tends to happen in early days of breast-feeding.
In the past, mothers, mothers-in-law and maternity maids usually helped, using traditional methods and feeding herbal soups.
Modern massage for milk production combined with traditional Chinese medical concepts appeals to young Chinese mothers, according to these breast masseuses.
Wang Xiaohong is a very popular postpartum breast masseuse in Beijing who takes four to six clients daily and works year-round without holidays. At an hourly rate of 300 yuan, she can make at least three times as much as a maternity maid.
Wang learned from a traditional Chinese medicine doctor 10 years ago, and at first she couldn't support herself.
"For the first four to five years, it was impossible to live on just breast massage, I lived mostly on my other jobs, which were maternity related. Since 2007, I have been getting more bookings and now I only do this," Wang tells Shanghai Daily.
Clients are mostly referred by other customers. Wang didn't get a "lactogogue" breast massage certificate from a Nanjing city hospital until very recently.
"The basic idea is to clear the duct by putting pressure on the right spots. The technique is very easy to pick up, but it really depends on practice, so I can see that some masseuses, even with a certificate, can be unreliable," Wang says.
The Shanghai Lactogogue Training Center only requires that trainees be between age 18 and 55. The center's website says the course takes eight days and the cost, including certificate, is 2,700 yuan.
As women rush to have babies in this auspicious Chinese Lunar Year of the Dragon, there's a growing demand for specialized maternity nurses and also for breast masseuses or "lactogogues" to increase mothers' milk.
When a new mother has trouble nursing or blocked ducts, traditional methods call for running a wooden comb over the breasts, placing fermented dough on the breasts and feeding herbal soups to increase energy, blood circulation and thin milk.
The demand for specialized postpartum maternity and child care is increased by the fact that only-children today are the focus of two families' affections and aspirations. More emphasis is placed on giving a baby a healthy start in life, starting with breast-feeding.
This has boosted the postpartum job market, creating popular new jobs like yuesao or maternity maids, literally "moon sisters-in-law" who care for the new mother and baby in the crucial month after birth. During this month it is a Chinese health tradition for new mothers to stay indoors, rest and eat nutritious food and follow strict dos and don'ts (tradition known as yuezi or sitting out a month).
Specialized ayis now make around 8,000 yuan (US$1,270) for one month, double their average monthly earnings in 2007, when the job first became popular.
This year, the new hottest postpartum job is cui ru shi (literally "push milk teacher") or "lactagogue" breast masseuses, who give breast massages to new mothers who have problems producing milk and making it flow. Many have blocked milk ducts.
A 90-minute specialized breast massage typically costs 300 yuan. A popular masseuse can make nearly three times as much as a maternity maid or yuesao who usually lives in and cares for mother and child.
The idea is to clear clogged or blocked milk ducts through careful massage on the ducts and acupuncture points.
Doctors say this massage may help if performed correctly, but worry about unqualified masseuses, who may harm breasts if they press too hard and damage tissues.
"If massage is incorrect, it can harm the breast and may even cause mastitis (inflammation of the mammary glands). So they need to be careful," Dr Zhuang Zhigang of the Breast Department of Shanghai No.1 Maternity and Child Health Hospital tells Shanghai Daily.
Many masseuses hold a specialized "lactogogue" certificates, some for advanced levels. China has a long tradition of massage for health and breast massage for beauty.
There is no nationally recognized training institution or set of qualifications, and the fresh market is unregulated.
Nevertheless, the practice has proved popular among young mothers who prefer breast-feeding but have problems with blocked milk ducts.
"It's so painful that only breast-feeding mothers can understand. I was in so much pain and my breasts were sore and engorged, and my baby was so hungry. But the liquid just got stuck, and there was nothing I could do so I got agitated, which made it worse," says 23-year-old Kathy Zhang.
She learned of the new service through a colleague who had a successful experience, with immediate positive results.
"After one 90-minute session, the ducts were clear and I started having milk. That was quite amazing," she recalls.
It is not uncommon for new nursing mothers to experience difficulty producing milk and to feel discomfort or even pain. Sometimes, breast congestion gets severe and may result in infection or mastitis.
The causes of blocked milk ducts are complicated, including lack of rest, skipping breast-feeding sessions so milk builds up, and stress. Some mothers are just prone to blocked or clogged milk ducts. It tends to happen in early days of breast-feeding.
In the past, mothers, mothers-in-law and maternity maids usually helped, using traditional methods and feeding herbal soups.
Modern massage for milk production combined with traditional Chinese medical concepts appeals to young Chinese mothers, according to these breast masseuses.
Wang Xiaohong is a very popular postpartum breast masseuse in Beijing who takes four to six clients daily and works year-round without holidays. At an hourly rate of 300 yuan, she can make at least three times as much as a maternity maid.
Wang learned from a traditional Chinese medicine doctor 10 years ago, and at first she couldn't support herself.
"For the first four to five years, it was impossible to live on just breast massage, I lived mostly on my other jobs, which were maternity related. Since 2007, I have been getting more bookings and now I only do this," Wang tells Shanghai Daily.
Clients are mostly referred by other customers. Wang didn't get a "lactogogue" breast massage certificate from a Nanjing city hospital until very recently.
"The basic idea is to clear the duct by putting pressure on the right spots. The technique is very easy to pick up, but it really depends on practice, so I can see that some masseuses, even with a certificate, can be unreliable," Wang says.
The Shanghai Lactogogue Training Center only requires that trainees be between age 18 and 55. The center's website says the course takes eight days and the cost, including certificate, is 2,700 yuan.
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