The Power of Touch: How Infant Massage Supports Regulation and Bonding
Featuring Dr. Kimberly Day
With Lauren Zatezalo, OT student, and Melissa O'Neal, OTR/L
Touch is not a soft concept. There is specific neuroscience behind what happens when a parent holds, strokes, or massages a newborn, and the research on infant massage connects directly to regulation, bonding, and daily functional care. Dr. Kimberly Day explains what it is, why it matters, and how to begin.
About Dr. Kimberly Day
Guest bio coming soon.
What You Will Learn in This Episode
- The neuroscience of touch and why physical contact between a parent and newborn has measurable effects on regulation, cortisol levels, and nervous system development.
- What infant massage is, and what it is not. This is not a specialized technique that requires training.
- How to incorporate touch and massage into the routines you are already doing: feeding, bath time, diaper changes.
- What Dr. Kimberly Day sees clinically when parents engage with infant massage and what it changes.
- The connection between touch, bonding, and the parent's own postpartum emotional experience.
Show Notes and Resources
International Association of Infant Massage (iaim.net). Postpartum Support International (postpartum.net).
From This Episode
Transcript excerpt coming soon.
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