Rebozo Therapy
Rebozo therapy can range from a relaxing full-body massage to easing back discomfort and repositioning a baby during pregnancy or labor. A rebozo is a traditional Mexican midwifery tool utilized for many generations from the rebozo, or Mexican shawl, that was a part of traditional Mexican clothing and became a tool for daily life. Everything from carrying food and water jugs to perinatal support, a rebozo is a simple piece of cloth that has a multitude of uses throughout the childbearing years.
Rebozo therapy can include:
- Rebozo prenatal abdominal support for varicosities and diastasis recti
- Rebozo postpartum belly binding
- Rebozo manteada abdominal and uterine massage
- Rebozo “shake the apple tree” pelvic release
- Rebozo relaxation full-body prenatal massage
- Rebozo relaxation full-body “closing of the bones” postpartum massage
Using a rebozo, a Mexican hand-woven shawl, during the childbearing years is a traditional Mexican midwifery practice passed down by traditional Mexican midwives through apprenticeship and used as a part of midwifery services to support prengnacy, birth, and postpartum. I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to learn many rebozo techniques from Naoli Vinaver through her online course, The Art of Birth, with the blessing to share these therapies with clients to continue these traditions and support physiological birth in my community.
I utilize rebozo therapy as a technique through care to provide relaxation, privacy, support baby’s position, reposition a baby for labor progression, as well as teaching families how to use this simple piece of cloth as a baby wrap. It is such a wonderful tool to roll into my support bag and provides relief to so many women, usually being applied as a routine part of care.