The Pregnancy Massage Video

Lori Stewart, who teaches massage in Los Angeles at The Institute of Psycho-Structural Balancing (I'm not making this up), is the instructor for this solid guide to easing some of the burdens of pregnancy through massage. Using trimester specific tips, Stewart demonstrates massage techniques for relieving water retention, alleviating lower and upper back pain, and reducing tension headaches. A question and answer period with pregnant women and their labor partners sounds scripted and fakey (but, then again, this is L.A., so the dialogue could be actual). Aside from that, The Pregnancy Massage Video does what it sets out to by providing good guidance on the subject, and includes an important public notice about donating placental blood for use in bone marrow transplants. A more low-budget, but more personal and in-depth approach is offered in Loving Pregnancy With Partner Massage (VL-5/95). Still, this one's a good addition. Recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)