Massaging babies is a tradition that exists in many cultures across the globe
but is something that had been sadly neglected in the west. It took the vision
and persistence of a woman called Vimala McClure to reintroduce this wonderful
gift. Vimala learned of infant massage while she worked in India during the
1970s. She saw mothers in even the most poverty-stricken areas giving their
babies massage as part of their daily routine. This positive touch allowed the
babies to experience tremendous love and a sense of security that is sometimes
lacking in our society.
Vimala returned to America and became a mother herself. She recalled the power
of massage and designed a sequence of strokes specifically for babies. They were
based on the strokes she had observed in India, with the addition of some
Swedish massage, reflexology and yoga. She practised on her own children and saw
how positively they responded to massage. It helped the babies to stay relaxed
and happy as well as having physical benefits and Vimala found that it enhanced
her communication with her children.
She started to share the massage with other parents and the word spread until,
following repeated requests from childcare educators, she devised and led
courses to train them to teach these skills to parents with young children.
The I.A.I.M. was founded by Vimala McClure in 1981 with the help of the first
group of instructors she had trained. From these beginnings the I.A.I.M. rapidly
spread across the world and now has instructors in over 30 countries. The IAIM
carries on Vimala’s vision that infant massage will become a parenting tradition
throughout the world community.