Karen Salas, L.M.T.
My favorite aspect of my work is helping women and their birth partners prepare for childbirth and then assisting them during that process. There is nothing that compares to witnessing the drama of new life unfolding and a mother coming into her own as an empowered caretaker of that new life. My goal as a birth attendant is to help improve the outcomes for both the mother and her baby by helping the mother cope with the tremendous challenges of birthing. Many people see massage as a physical support for the physical process of birthing. However, I feel the emotional support a mother receives from massage during her pregnancy and delivery is equally vital, as it is the mother’s emotional state that frames her entire experience and affects how she experiences the physical aspect.
Through my own and others’ experiences, I have found that we have a long way to go in educating ourselves about childbirth in our culture. We hear a lot of war stories from the delivery room, but not a lot of helpful advice for what to expect, or alternative ways to cope with pain, or simply the idea that our intuition is a powerful guide through birthing, and that birthing can be a marvelous adventure. Many mothers go through at least two birthing experiences before they come into their own and finally figure out how to “do it right,” whatever that means for them personally. For some, it means having an unmedicated birth. For others it means coming to terms with their fears, and for others it means having a more satisfying bonding experience when the baby is born. I am committed to helping make that learning curve less steep, so that women can reach their birthing vision this time, with this birth.
Education/Qualifications
- 1988, BA - Spanish, University of Utah.
- 1994, Secondary Teacher Certification, University of Utah.
- 2002, Graduated - Myotherapy College of Utah.
- 2003, State Licensure - LMT.
- 2004, Certified - Pre/Perinatal Massage Therapy, Carole Osborne-Sheets.
- 2008, Certifying - Infant Massage Educator, Infant Massage USA.
- 2008, Completed - Advanced Pre/Perinatal Massage Training, Carole Osborne-Sheets.
- Member, American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA).
- Certified - National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (NCBTMB).
- Primary Techniques: Pre/Perinatal Massage, Infant Massage Education, Swedish Massage, Thai Yoga Massage, Manual Lymph Drainage, Craniosacral Therapy.
- Utah Prenatal Massage co-founder.
Schedule an Appointment
Please contact Karen to schedule an appointment.
Testimonials
For my fourth and last delivery, at age 43, I wanted a smooth delivery, an easy recovery and no complications. I turned to hypnotherapy and massage to help increase —more—
Dads are not given much consideration when it comes to labor and delivery. The mother is the one having the baby, of course, but the dad experiences a lot of stress —more—
I was 36½ weeks pregnant with my second son when I started having some slightly painful contractions. I had been through childbirth once before and these contractions —more—
My first child birthing experience was dreadful. To prepare for my second birth, I met with Karen for a few prenatal massages and some consultation. —more—
Karen taught me how to do infant massage on my baby when he was only six weeks old. My whole experience of the pregnancy and delivery was —more—