IAIM

IAIMInternational Association of Infant Massage (IAIM) Mission Statement
“The purpose of the International Association of Infant Massage is to promote nurturing touch and communication through, training, education and research so that parents, caregivers and children are loved, valued and respected throughout the world community.”
Although infant massage is an ancient tradition in some cultures it had not become widely practiced in the West until 1981 when the IAIM was founded in the USA by Vimala McClure, author of the book ‘Infant massage – A Handbook for Loving Parents’.

Vimala had witnessed the wonders of baby massage whilst working in India during the 1970’s and observed even the poorest of mothers massaging their babies as part of a daily routine. She noticed that these children felt a deep sense of love and security. With her own children, she developed the Indian techniques and introduced elements of Swedish massage, reflexology and yoga. She then devised a training course for childcare educators to teach these skills to parents with young children and so founded the International Association of Infant Massage.

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The IAIM rapidly spread throughout the world and this non-profit organisation is now represented in over 40 countries. The UK Chapter was established in 1997 and to date, over 3000 infant massage instructors have been trained. (www.iaim.org.uk) The Irish Chapter was formed several years ago and now has a growing number of instructors throughout the country.

Health care providers have all endorsed courses run by instructors trained with IAIM.

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