My Working Day: Wendy Condellleft her job in the leisure industry to become a certified infant massage instructor after the birth of her son 15 months ago
Working as an infant massage instructor is a pretty recent career for me, and far removed from my background in leisure management, where I managed health and fitness centres for 15 years.
Fifteen months ago I had a baby boy, and shortly after I got a flyer in the letterbox about baby massages. I attended the class and was just blown away by the whole thing. I couldn't believe I hadn't heard anything about this practice before, so I started to do a bit of research and I began a training course.
Once it was completed, I decided it was something I'd like to do. I finished my job in the leisure industry in Limerick and have been teaching baby massage ever since.
My day can involve a lot of travel between Limerick, Clare or Tipperary. I teach group classes of massage with up to eight parents and babies. Sessions are once a week for five weeks.
The babies are pre-crawling, six-eight months old, and I go through everything from stroking techniques to leading discussions about parenting in general. For a lot of people it is their first time actually outside the family unit with their new babies, and so it's important that there is a strong social aspect to the group sessions.
I also teach one-on-one in clients' own homes. Normally this is arranged for people who perhaps are not suited to group sessions.
Session lengths depends on the babies, but normally they last about an hour. During this, the maximum time we spend on massage is about 20-30 minutes as it can be quite intense.
The basis of infant massage is all about positive touch, and improving the bonding and communication between parent and child. The aim is to help parents read baby cues better. It helps parents deal with babies who may have bad colic or trouble sleeping. Aside from the medical benefits, it is a nice activity between parent and child.
There are more than 200 infant massage workers in Ireland, so it's certainly a growing area. However, it is still a fairly new activity as Baby Massage Ireland, the Irish association of infant massagers, was established only in 2001.
VHI, Bupa and Vivas Health all recognise infant massage and will refund the cost through most of their family policies, which is usually €100 for a five-week group class and around €50 per session for one-on-one.
I don't find my working day stressful. In truth, I get as much out of the classes as the parents do.
Seeing the bond developing between parent and child makes it all worthwhile and provides a relaxing work environment.
In conversation with Brian O'Connell