Jody Wright a Trainer with Infant Massage USA.

Let me introduce myself

My name is Jody Wright. I am a trainer with the International Association of Infant Massage, located in Sweden, and Infant Massage USA, its U.S. chapter. I have been doing massage since 1980 when I adopted my first child and asked my friend, Vimala McClure, to teach me infant massage. She had just written a book called I nfant Massage: A Handbook for Loving Parents.

A couple years later I adopted my second child, and parents started asking me to teach them infant massage. Vimala told me to go ahead, and invited me to learn infant massage directly from her, become a certified instructor, and then a trainer of instructors, all in 1984. I led trainings for seven years, and then took a break to raise my family and be the president of Motherwear®, a catalog for nursing mothers, which I led for 19 years.

When I left Motherwear, I was delighted to see that the organization I had been a part of starting was now a world-wide organization, the International Association of Infant Massage, supporting nurturing families in over 35 countries around the world. I returned to training for the International Association of Infant Massage, which is registered in Sweden, in 2006.

My family: five daughters and their partners and children in 2022.

I have five grown children, and massaged all my babies. Four of my children were adopted, and I have a multi-racial family. I now have the pleasure of sharing massage with my grandchildren, and with all the families that come to my trainings and classes.

I have served for fifteen years on the Board of the International Association of Infant Massage. I was initially on the Board when the International Association of Infant Massage Instructors was formed in 1987 to 1992. And then again served on the International Board from 2006 to 2016.

The IAIM International Board at a meeting in Lisbon Portugal in 2013.

I am a trainer and parent educator, by profession, and am trained as a graphic designer, a lactation counselor and a childbirth educator, along with running the Motherwear catalog/website for almost 20 years.

I teach a dozen or more trainings each year in the USA and I have had the joy of doing Infant Massage Certification Trainings in Costa Rica, Taiwan, Ghana, Kenya, China, Haiti and Brazil. Here are a few photos from my international trainings:

Teaching a Parent-Baby Class in a five-day training in San Leopoldo, Brazil, in March 2020.

I went to Haiti with my fellow trainers, and led two trainings in March 2014 and another in 2019.

In the Volta area of Ghana, I taught traditional birth attendants and village health advocates to teach mothers to massage their babies in 2010.

I partnered with fellow trainer, Suzanne Adamson from the UK and Kenya, to teach a training in Kenya in 2012.

I have taught a number of trainings in Taiwan. Here we are learning the strokes.

“I watched the fathers and babies light up; it was as if I could physically see the bond that connects them. It really felt good for me to see such immediate results with all the families who participated in the 5 week course. In the work I do as a Social Worker I don’t usually see immediate improvement in working with children and families. This was a great contrast to that. It was very heartwarming work and seeing and hearing family members get closer to one another through infant massage was very powerful.”

“I think this was one of the most validating and wonderful experiences that I have ever had as a professional in my lifetime.”

“Instructing parents in infant massage has been a very gratifying experience. It is an amazing feeling to receive an email and phone call from a parent after a session who wants to share their successes with you. . . . The special interactions I’ve already had with just a few families has encouraged me and inspired me to follow this path. Teaching these sessions has made my heart happy and spirit soar. You know you’re on to something when your work is joyful!”

“This has been very exciting for me. The amount of interest has shown me that people are excited about learning and bonding with their babies. You have given me an invaluable tool. Thank you Infant Massage USA!!!”

“Thank you so much for all of your time and effort put in to make the Infant Massage Education class spectacular. I entered the class fearful that I wouldn’t do the “right” thing or give the moms the “best advice”. You really taught me who the experts truly are – and what a joy it is to see their truths unfold before me! I am truly grateful.”

“My overall experience has been amazing. . . . I was unaware how much satisfaction and gratification I would come away with after completing the classes. . . . Hearing about the responsiveness of the babies to the daily massage was heart warming. It gave me pleasure to hear that because of the daily massage a baby was able to better relax before bedtime and that a baby was having more regular bowel movements due to the stomach massage.”

“Your recent class had a profound effect on me — much greater than I anticipated. I had no idea of the scope the class would cover. I am so awed and humble in view of the contribution we can make, as a result of it, to babies, moms, families — and “the world.” I thank you for your wonderful teaching – and the fullness of your teaching materials.”

“Infant massage has really given me a new tool to be excited about and has really enriched our parent education program at the hospital. I had one mom of a 3 month old tell me that her daughter slept for 7 hours straight for the first time after infant massage class. She was amazed!!!”

“I have found my passion. I had experience working with families with various backgrounds and dynamics and once I taught the massage it brought all of my knowledge together and completed the puzzle. . . . I found an inner strength and confidence I forgot I had.”

“Infant Massage is the most satisfying work I have ever done. One of the Early Hard Start staff people I consult with told me: ‘It is the most perfect thing to accomplish all our goals. It does everything we are hoping for.’ Infant massage gets people to focus on what’s going on with their baby. All the talk, all the hours we spend with families, yet infant massage just does it so quickly.”

“When I became a mother my son was incredibly fussy and watching him go through those moments was heartbreaking. . . . I took what the Infant Massage Educator taught me and used it on my son everyday, sometimes more than once. It became more than just a calming tool for those fussy moments. The infant massage I performed on my son became bonding times of unspeakable communication. I instantly felt connected to him. His fussy moments were driven from pain and discomfort and the fact that my touch was able to calm him gave me a feeling no words can explain.” – from a training application

“Jody was an excellent trainer! Right from the emails before class, meeting at class for the first time, and every class after was comfortable. Jody is “REAL”. Has a lot of experience to bring to class. Very knowledgeable and well-prepared for class. Awesome job!”

“Jody is a dynamic instructor. She is kind, gifted, and a pleasure to be with. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to work with her.”

“The instructor conveyed that the real message behind massage was to touch – make a connection with your baby – that message all too often missed by people like myself who ‘provides tx’ not ‘teaches one to massage for a lifetime.’”

“I was very touched by Jody’s passion for this work.”

“Jody listened and was very receptive and non-judgmental towards everyone’s opinion. She was very easy to talk to.”

“It was a delight being trained by someone who respects infants and teaches others to respect them too.”

“I feel like infant massage is a secret that needs to be shared. It has so many benefits and I think our society would ultimately benefit from it with all the other stress we face each day. The course was wonderful. Loved it!”

“Jody has a very holistic and spiritual respect for the intimacy and importance of the baby/parent relationship. Through her teaching she heightens the student’s awareness of the beauty of this bond.”

“Jody’s training was professional, heart-felt, clear, engaging and intellectually stimulating. Being able to learn the massage strokes and teach parents to massage real babies in class was a real confidence-builder and accelerated my learning curve immensely. Thank you Jody for a fantastic training.”

“I was so impressed with the other participants in the class. Such a beautiful group of intelligent, compassionate women all working for the betterment of children’s lives.”

“Solid, responsible training by an experienced and knowledgeable teacher. Coursework, well constructed over the 4 days, gave models and practice for teaching so that we all left with a great starter kit of skills.”

“I came into this training thinking that it was going to be straight to the point about telling and showing about infant massage, but instead I gained so much knowledge about how important touch is for babies and how it can even effect the people they become in adulthood.”

“Very enjoyable! One of the best CE classes I’ve ever taken.”

“This has been a fantastic experience, from registration through graduation. The 4 days have flown by, and I can honestly say that I am sad that the training is over. I can’t wait to put my newfound knowledge into practice. Thank you Jody!”

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