Pregnancy's best-kept secret

There are a few things that no-one tells you before you have your first baby. The first is how fabulously comfortable maternity clothes are. With their adjustable bits and stretchy panels they are just so easy to wear and I'll definitely be poking around the maternity sections of my favourite shops long after giving birth.

The second is one I discovered when I booked a pregnancy massage at the Oeuf Therapy Rooms & Clinic in West London which specialises in fertility, pregnancy and postnatal care. The treat in store wasn't just the tailor-made massage but also the pregnancy massage bed.

The bed has three holes - one for your belly and two for your boobs. Hanging from the holes are cloth slings to support you and mean that you can comfortably lie on your front for what could be the first time in months.

Sadly pregnancy massage beds aren't very common so it's worth ringing around therapists in your area to see if they have one.

All the therapists at Oeuf use Chinese medicine methods of diagnosis and my treatment starts with a half hour consultation. Emma Davis my therapist explains: 'Through the consultation I want to define where the client is at in her pregnancy and how her mind and body are coping. How she is affected by the experience of pregnancy can affect the labour.'

During the consultation Emma asks how I'm feeling physically and emotionally, we talk about my eating habits, exercise regime, worries and any aches, pains and cramps. Afterwards she explains that she'll be using three specially selected oils - grapefruit, cypruss and juniper berry.

The grapefruit oil is used to address an issue which started early in my pregnancy - acid indigestion. As I've never suffered from it before Emma explains that this is solely due to my less-than-perfect pregnancy diet. The grapefruit will also help with my emotions, which admittedly, have gone through the roof recently.

The cypruss oil cools and circulates Chi (energy) and is particularly effective in the third trimester - a transitional period of pregnancy.

Finally the juniper berry is a fortifying and empowering oil. It helps clear lymphatic congestion in the kidneys which are being really overworked processing waste from me and the baby.

The massage itself is, of course, bliss. It's so lovely to lie comfortably on my tummy and I am aware that Emma concentrates longer on areas which feel tight or knotty. My past experience of masseurs is that they simply go through the paces leaving you longing for more attention on stressed areas.

Afterwards she comments on the fact that I'd been getting particularly bad cramp in my right calf. She also tells me I have signs of water retention in my ankles and need to drink lots more water.

Before I leave Emma prints off several pages of advice about nutrition during the remainder of my pregnancy and shows me a simple massage I can do on myself when I get indigestion.

'We aim to be informative to women and give them the tools to use themselves after the treatment has finished,' says Emma.

Oeuf is based at 260 Kilburn Lane, London, W10 and offers a range of treatments from fertility consultations to massage, acupuncture, cranio-Osteopathy, nutrition, reiki and reflexology. For more information visit www.oeuf.org.uk or call 0208 968 3338.

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