IMTRC: Massage and Pregnancy After Stillbirth: The HOPES Study
Research

IMTRC: Massage and Pregnancy After Stillbirth: The HOPES Study

Author(s): Sarah Fogarty

1CE credit 1 Lesson Video

Pregnancy after stillbirth can bring increased emotional and physical challenges that affect maternal well-being. Explore findings from the HOPES Study, a Massage Therapy Foundation–funded feasibility trial examining Swedish massage as a supportive approach for women who are pregnant after loss. Learn how a series of massage sessions impacted anxiety, worry, and coping, and what participants found most helpful. This session also offers practical insights into safety and therapeutic relationships to help inform clinical care for this population.

The Massage Therapy Foundation’s International Massage Therapy Research Conferences (IMTRC) are designed to bring together an engaged massage therapy-focused community of thought leaders, educators, clinicians, and researchers as well as other allied health practitioners to discuss recently completed and ongoing massage therapy research. This session was originally presented at IMTRC 2025. For more information, please visit the Massage Therapy Foundation.

At the conclusion of this course, participants will be able to:

  • Understand supporting women after child loss
  • Learn how to use massage to support women after child loss
  • Understand safe practices with this population
  • Understand findings from HOPE study

  1. IMTRC: Massage and Pregnancy After Stillbirth: The HOPES Study Video

Sarah Fogarty, PhD, LMT, is a massage therapist and researcher. She has been practicing massage since 2000 and has worked with high-level athletes, professionals, and individuals who are pregnant and individuals who have experience grief particularly those who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal loss. She holds an adjunct fellow position at Western Sydney University, Penrith, Australia. Dr. Fogarty holds advanced certifications in Neuromuscular Therapy and Prenatal Massage, with her clients seeing her for nurturing and informed approaches to pain management.