Spotlight Series

Guest Name: Lindsay Stefanon

Credentials:  LMT, Maternal Massage

Lindsay Stefanon: Yes. Thank you for having me.

Dr. Betty DeLass: You’re welcome. Before we get jump into all the questions that I have for you, I want to just read a bio for you um for the audience listening so they can know who you are.

Lindsay Stefanon: Okay.

Dr. Betty DeLass: Awesome. Awesome. Okay. So, Lindsay is the clinical director of Maternal Massage. She’s a licensed massage therapist, yoga teacher, yoga therapist, and a trained doula. She’s got lots of skills. Um, Lindsay began her wellness journey long before she became a licensed massage therapist. At the age of 14, she was in a traumatic car accident. From there, she turned to holistic healing methods to ease the pain, beginning a meditation and yoga practice. As she continued through this journey, she began to realize that her connection to her body helped her to heal her more than just physical, but mental and emotional as well. She saw how life-changing these experiences were and set out to become a yoga teacher and later a yoga therapist. Through her work and experience as a yoga therapist, Lindsay noticed a lack of support and felt called to the perinatal population. Lindsay began her studies through birth work as well as a maternal mental health and grief and loss and grief and loss through the lens of a perinatal population. Her greatest strength is to provide a calming and safe space for mothers to be and connect with their bodies. This is ultimately what led her to becoming a licensed massage therapist where then she found Maternal Massage. Maternal Massage is a massage clinic located in Salt Lake and Provo dedicated to the perinatal and postpartum population. Maternal Massage was created under the foundation to nurture the nurturers. They provide massage, lymphatic drainage, monthly postpartum support groups, community resources, and a place to feel comforted and supported through their pregnancy and beyond. Well, Lindsay, love everything you guys are doing. So, and you kind of showed us your little journey there. What maybe give us a a little deeper nugget of like what what prompted you massage therapy and now massage therapy versus like the along that journey.

Lindsay Stefanon: Yeah. Um I think I really um I really love the aspect well I worked with massage therapists I guess kind of how it really started. Um through uh my yoga therapy work I was in offices with other massage therapists. Um, one, it’s definitely like a more well-known uh healing modality, I think, than yoga therapy was. So, that really like it could it could be more consistent. You can kind of do it anywhere. Um, so the business model of massage therapy I really loved. And I do really love anatomy and just kind of diving deeper into the human body. Um, and just I loved like the cadaver labs that we got to see and just like learning like I love learning about the human body and I really love that aspect of massage and massage school. Um, and seeing how like you could really just help somebody um through massage like it’s crazy I think the results and the effects that that come of massage. So, um yeah, I think just the deeper knowledge of of the body.

Dr. Betty DeLass: I love that. I I’m the same way. like more and moreation. The more you learn, the more you wanted to learn more. Even more.

Lindsay Stefanon: Yeah, totally.

Dr. Betty DeLass: What do you feel like makes you and your practice in Maternal Massage different than any other massage therapist?

Lindsay Stefanon: Yeah. So, I think um well, obviously we we do uh pretty much only prenatal and postpartum. We do see husbands and we do couples. and people kind of keep seeing us well after their um pregnancy is over, but you’re postpartum forever, so that’s okay.

Dr. Betty DeLass: Um thousand%.

Lindsay Stefanon: Yeah. So, I think it’s what’s really unique. Well, one, we have the bolsters, so you can lay um belly down and face up, so everyone loves that. Um we’re all we’re all trained um a little bit further than you would than you would at like a regular spa um to have a prenatal massage, which is always great. Um, and we work with pregnancy every day, all day. So, we have like that extra experience that you might not see from somewhere else that you just go to get a prenatal massage. Um, what’s also really great is there are uh six of us now in Salt Lake and one in Provo. Um, so we have multiple styles and you know, not every massage therapist is for every person. So, if you don’t like the way I massage then you can go see um somebody else. And so I think it’s really great to have like different options rather than just one person. Um so I think that’s that’s super helpful. Um yeah, we also we just love we all love what we do. We have a midwife student. We have um nursing students that work here. Um so sonographer students. Like all of us love learning and we love the women’s the woman’s body and pregnancy and babies. And I think just being able to work here is amazing. Just being able to yeah be immersed in the community and then have co-workers that all think the same and we all just love our clients. So I love it.

Dr. Betty DeLass: Love is love is the universal thing that makes everything grow and thrive and do all the things. So thank you for that. What obviously pregnancy postpartum is like ideal fit. Are there specific people within that that are your ideal fit? like give us your like this is that person if they’re watching this. They’re like, “Oh my gosh, this is me. I need to go.”

Lindsay Stefanon: Yeah. Um well, I guess another thing I guess this is sort of what makes us different. We do see um you first, second, and third. Like we see you though through your whole pregnancy. As long as there’s not like a major issue or we would have a doctor’s note required. Um a lot of places don’t see you in your first trimester. We still do. We like to treat you as just like a normal human. Um, we know that if your back hurts, you still need deeper pressure, um, within the safety parameters that that we know. Um, we just treat you like a normal human. So, really, I mean, people ask me what’s different about prenatal massage, and I’m really like, it’s just you’re pregnant. I’m massaging you. Like, there are very few things that you actually cannot do in a prenatal massage. Um, and there’s a lot of misinformation out there, I think. So, uh, yeah, I think just anyone needing either that relaxation, that safe space to just kind of like connect with their body and their baby. Um, kind of like take a deep breath and just feel good. And then we also have like the pain relieving aspects of helping with sciatica, carpal tunnel, um, you know, back pain of course, the breastfeeding hunch, like postural issues. Um there there’s so many things um that massage can help with. So yeah.

Dr. Betty DeLass: Awesome. Awesome. So great. Kate, um what does the process look like to work with you or someone at your clinic? Do we just call? Like how does like what’s the whole process look like from like I’m interested in coming to like I got on the table and got an amazing massage. I’m coming back.

Lindsay Stefanon: Um yeah, so you can definitely book online. We have a whole website with um more frequently asked questions and like contraindications. what you would need a doctor’s note for. So, that has like all the the good information if you want a deeper dive. You can also call and ask. Um, we definitely are appointment only though, so you can’t just walk in. Um, and then we have, of course, your intake form that you got to fill out beforehand, just so we make sure we’re all a good fit and so we know how to adjust the table depending on how big the belly is. Um, we do a pretty pretty deep dive your first appointment to see kind of what’s going on and get you adjusted to the bolsters to make sure you’re comfortable. Um, and and then you get a massage.

Dr. Betty DeLass: Yeah. Love that. Love that. Yeah. Not not too complicated. So, yeah. Easy easy smooth like.

Lindsay Stefanon: And I I guess I should say we do have um although insurance doesn’t recognize massage therapy as something to cover, we do take HSA and FSA cards.

Dr. Betty DeLass: Yeah. Yeah, that’s great. That’s awesome. Um it just depends on the insurance. Some of them there’s a couple of them, right? That’ll Yeah. Right.

Lindsay Stefanon: And yeah, it’s best to um have a note from your to just saying that therapy is is all good for you. So perfect.

Dr. Betty DeLass: Perfect. Okay. My next question for you is, what is something that most people don’t know that you think that they should know about the services you provide, massage therapy in general, anything like that?

Lindsay Stefanon: Um, I think a lot of it is that piece. Um, like massage is safe and it can help through so many different things. Um, I think something that I really love and that I’ve grown to know is Oh, sorry. Am I freezing or am I good?

Dr. Betty DeLass: Oh, there we go. It’s It’s You’re still talking, but camera’s a little bit jumpy, but that’s okay. Keep going. It’s still Okay going.

Lindsay Stefanon: Okay, good. Um, is really like the relationship that we form with each of our clients. I think the more you come, so we recommend coming about as often as your OB midwife appointments. Um, so when you start coming in the beginning towards the end of your pregnancy, so much changes. You’re in like this huge vulnerable spot in life, especially through postpartum. And I think being able to have a consistent safe space to come. Um, you just really create like this beautiful bond and relationship with your providers. Um, and I really love that aspect of of my job, just being able to really support somebody. And then we have our our community resources that we love to refer out of course to to Reborn and other providers. Um so it just it really does feel like an awesome community um that that you wouldn’t think just going to get a massage would be but it is like this whole it’s this whole thing.

Dr. Betty DeLass: I I would say that’s the one thing that’s like really special about you guys is like it community. It’s a feel. It’s a vibe. It’s a experience. like um even walking into your clinic, you’re just like, “Oh, I feel loved already.” You know what I mean?

Lindsay Stefanon: Yeah. Yeah. Totally. We we truly try to create like this whole Yeah. experience where you can feel supported throughout your whole pregnancy and and if you need something, then we’ll try our best to make sure that if we can’t provide it, then we can refer you to somebody that can. So, yeah.

Dr. Betty DeLass: Amazing. Is there anything special that you want to promote um that’s going on with Maternal Massage or anything like that?

Lindsay Stefanon: Um, well, it is almost May and everyone loves u massages for Mother’s Day. Um, just something we’re doing in May is just giving a little gift basket to all of our clients. Um, and then we do have our monthly postpartum support group that I offer with a mental health therapist.

Dr. Betty DeLass: Awesome.

Lindsay Stefanon: um just for and it’s free just to come and kind of talk talk out your experiences um and just feel connected in that community as well. Um and then we did just open up our second location in Provo um in August, so that’s been going well. It’s within the Utah birthplace, so we just have a room in the birth center there. So, it’s been really great.

Dr. Betty DeLass: Super super cool. Okay, what this is my favorite favorite question to ask everyone. What do you want to be known for?

Lindsay Stefanon: Um, I feel like through all the different things that I have done, it all comes back to leaving the world a better place than um than when I was here. I feel like through helping pregnant women and supporting them through their pregnancy and postpartum just to be more mindful and aware kind of take the time to slow down and connect with their body. They’re able to then have that relationship with their body and themselves and then raise their children from a place where, you know, you’re a little bit less stressed and a little bit uh less in pain. And I think, you know, it all starts with birth and childhood. So if we can support the pregnant person, then they can have a healthy pregnancy and birth and then that just helps them be a better mom and then it helps the world be a better place. So I feel like that’s kind of where where it all starts for me.

Dr. Betty DeLass: So I’m sure everyone watching this is already feeling the impact of that from like just being in your presence of like, oh, she’s she’s leaving my life a better place right now.

Lindsay Stefanon: So yeah, that’s my hope. And Maternal Massage is hope.

Dr. Betty DeLass: Yes, absolutely. Okay. Where can we find you? Website, Instagram, social media, all the things.

Lindsay Stefanon: Yeah. Um, our website is Maternal Massage Utah and then Instagram just Maternal Massage and and yeah, we’d love to hear from everybody. We loved making new connections with new providers and just finding more women to help and to provide the resources that they need to enjoy their pregnancy as most as much as they can.

Dr. Betty DeLass: Yes. Yes. Absolutely. Well, thank you, Lindsay, so much for taking some time out of your day to jump on the spotlight series. Thank you for all that you and Maternal Massage are doing for the community. I know that I’ve I’ve enjoyed being in a in a relationship with you guys since I’ve moved here. So, thank you so much for all you’re doing.

Lindsay Stefanon: Yeah. Amazing. Thank you so much.

Dr. Betty DeLass: Okay. Talk to you later. Okay. Goodbye.