Twenty-six pregnant women were assigned to a massage therapy or a relaxatio
n therapy group for 5 weeks. The therapies consisted of 20-min sessions twi
ce a week. Both groups reported feeling less anxious after the first sessio
n and less leg pain after the first and last session. Only the massage ther
apy group, however reported reduced anxiety, improved mood, better sleep an
d less back pain by the last day of the study. In addition, urinary stress
hormone levels (norepinephrine) decreased for the massage therapy group and
the women had fewer complications during labor and their infants had fewer
postnatal complications (e.g., less prematurity).