Prevalence and perceptions of infant massage in India: study from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh states

BACKGROUND: Knowledge of the prevailing infant care practices and their effects is important to inform practice and public programs. Infant massage is a traditional practice in India but remains less studied. This study was conducted to study the prevalence and perceptions of infant massage practices in two states of India. METHODS: A total of 1497 caretakers of children under 18 months of age were interviewed in a cross-sectional study at immunisation units of medical schools in Maharashtra (MH) and Madhya Pradesh (MP) states and through home visits in villages in MH during March through August 2018. RESULTS: Infant massage was a prevalent practice (93.8% [95%CI: 92.4,94.9]) in both study states – 97.9%[95%CI:96.9,98.8] in MH and 85.3%[95%CI: 81.9,88.3] in MP – and the prevalence did not vary between male (94.5%) and female (93.5%) infants (p = 0.44). Massage was mostly initiated in the first week of life (82%); it is widely viewed as a traditional practice. It was common to massage the baby once daily (77%), before bathing (77%), and after feeding (57%). Massage was mostly conducted using oils (97%). In MH, preferred oils were a sesame oil-based proprietary traditional medicine oil (36%) and coconut oil (18%) while olive (29%) and mustard (20%) oils were most popular in MP. Commonly reported application techniques included gentle massage with minimal pressure, pressing (30%) and manually stretching certain joints (60%). Commonly reported perceived benefits of infant massage included increased bone strength, better sleep and growth, while no harm was perceived (95%). CONCLUSION: Infant oil massage is a highly prevalent traditional practice in MH and MP. Clear guidance on the use of massage, choice of oil, and techniques for application is required to optimize benefits and minimize risks of this popular traditional practice. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12887-020-02416-y.