To get more insight into the art of infant massage, I met infant massage instructor Armelle Azzopardi Debost, who is also a mother of three boys, at a local baby show last year.

A couple of months later, I was invited to one of her baby massage workshops, which I attended. Azzopardi Debost is truly an inspiring person with a petite frame, soft voice and contagious smile. Despite her busy family life, she dedicates most of her time to baby massage, supporting mothers in their love for their babies.

The instructor studied baby massage in Switzerland and then practised in France before moving to Malta in 2010, where she founded Hands to Heart with the intention to promote the benefits of baby massage. Azzopardi Debost is also a member of the International Association of Infant Massage.

On her arrival here, she started to work with Appoġġ, teaching baby massage to foster families. She now works as a freelancer, organising infant massage classes.

She relates how International Association of Infant Massage founder Vimala Schneider McClure discovered baby massage during her work placement in an orphanage in India in 1973. Falling sick with malaria, the women in the neighbourhood took her under their wings and looked after her, massaging her body and singing to her, taking turns until her fever went down.

What mostly impressed her was the feeling of their hands touching her while massaging her. Through their touch, she could feel how much they cared for her. When she was leaving the country, on her way to the train station she saw a young woman at the edge of the street lying on the dirt with her baby across her lap. She was massaging and singing to her baby.

Then, she thought of the young children at the orphanage, of how loving, caring and playful they were in spite of being poor. Perhaps, she thought, they were able to be so loving, so relaxed and natural because they have been loved like this as infants.

A seed was planted in her mind and she returned home with the intention to make it flourish, wanting at all costs to bring the age-old practice of infant massage to the West.

The association believes that by fostering and encouraging infant massage and other cultural traditions that enhance the parent-baby bond and by helping create more family-centred values in our culture, we will begin to see whole generations expressing more compassion towards and responsibility for their fellow human beings.

Azzopardi Debost holds baby massage classes monthly at The Victoria hotel in Sliema. Sessions, which last 90 minutes, include a detailed explanation and demonstrations on a baby doll, making sure that every mother feels at ease. The room is set to the right temperature and background music is played to ensure that babies are calm and in the right mood for the massage.

Half way through the session, mothers are invited to stop for a coffee break, during which they can socialise, feed their little ones or ask questions. The atmosphere is soft and informal and Azzopardi Debost gracefully goes around the room, making sure everyone is engaged and fully understanding the sequences and strokes.

After each stroke, she goes next to each mother and invites them to repeat the stroke on their baby to make sure that the position of the hands is fully understood and that the mother is able to repeat it on her own once at home. She also hands out illustrated notes to make the process easier to remember.

This experience is not to be missed. It’s one of the best methods of bonding I have experienced. It is relaxing for both mother and baby and highly recommended, especially in the early months after giving birth, when the mothers lack attention as they are directing all their attention towards their babies.

Azzopardi Debost says that the major benefit of infant massage is bonding and emphasises that touch is a powerful element. Communication, both verbal and non-verbal, and prolonged eye contact are also crucial to bonding.

Other significant benefits of baby massage include reducing emotional distress, promoting increased levels of relaxation and longer sleep, relief from colic, constipation and teething discomfort.

For mothers who would like to know more about baby massage, Azzopardi Debost organises workshops bi-monthly, with her next one being held on Tuesday.

She also holds massage classes weekly and is available for one-to-one consultations in homes.

For more information, e-mail Ms Azzopardi Debost at babies_massage@hotmail.com or by visiting her Hands to Heart Facebook page.