"I was already sold on the benefits of massage for an adult, having regularly seen a massage therapist since an illness in my late teens/early twenties. However, I didn't realise how beneficial baby massage would prove to be. Alfie had a very traumatic birth - he was an unstable lie at 38 weeks - still spinning around, which was pretty uncomfortable - then went breech at 39 weeks, when the doctors manually turned him. All should have been plain sailing from that point, but Alf got stuck. I went in and out of labour for 10 days and was eventually induced at 42 weeks. The induction set off a chain of intervention - drips, breaking my waters, constant monitoring etc until Alfie went into distress and they performed an emergency caesarean. Labour and birth certainly wasn't the lovely calm waterbirth I anticipated and hoped for. After all we went through I don't think that it is surprising that we felt a bit traumatized. However, Alfie seemed to cope pretty well and I recovered from surgery. I started baby massage classes with a group of NCT friends when Alfie was six weeks old. He was very colicky at that point and the strokes I learnt really helped to relieve his discomfort. More importantly though I felt that it was the start of incredible bonding between us. Whereas his arrival had been difficult and traumatic, and those early days quite daunting, suddenly I had time where both he and I were totally relaxed and calm together. As both of our confidence grew the more we loved the daily ritual of massage together, so much so that people who watched often commented on how lovely it was. The colic disappeared, his sleeping and feeding was brilliant - in short he became the most contented, happy baby and I loved being a Mum. I felt calm and in control, not something I anticipated! The classes also cemented friendships with a group of Mums who are now extremely good mates and a source of huge support.

I decided to train with Peter Walker when I was pregnant with Emily. I had extolled the virtues of baby massage to so many people that I decided that I would really benefit from becoming a teacher myself. Having done my research I admired Peter's approach and skills and was determined to follow in his footsteps. Emily was also born by emergency caesarean, though thankfully less traumatic than the first time round. I massaged her from day one and she adored it - she beamed when she saw me rubbing massage oil into my hands. It was almost more enjoyable second time round because time with your baby is so precious when you have a toddler running around!

Now the kids are a bit too grown up (in their minds) to have regular massage, but from time to time they do ask for it, and it is very special when they do. We have adapted strokes I learnt from the baby massage routine and those I teach in the Massage In Schools Programme and they like to invent their own strokes too! It is lovely when they decide to massage me, or draw pictures on my back.

I seem to be drawn more and more to working with pregnant Mums and those with new babies, so much so that I am now a trainee doula. I hope to be able to bring my knowledge, enthusiasm for the subject and calming presence into new parents lives - to make that passage into the world of parenting as happy, rewarding and stress-free as possible.