Belly Friendly, a spa education and recognition program designed to enhance the education and confidence level of all spa employees, while raising the bar for the prenatal service experience, has launched in 19 spas nationwide this year. Stacy Denney, author, columnist, and founder of the prenatal spa Barefoot & Pregnant, has been providing maternity spa services for nearly a decade. With Belly Friendly, Denney now makes the experience available to moms across the country. “With more than 16,000 pregnant moms entering the market each day, it’s surprising that most spas, even those with prenatal training, still aren’t comfortable working on expecting women,” says Denney. “By offering supplementary education to the spa staff, Belly Friendly has a direct positive impact on mom’s experience. Through our program, moms can identify spas that have taken extra steps to create a pregnancy friendly environment and services.”
The backbone of the Belly Friendly training program is education. All spa personnel, from front desk staff and management to therapists, go through an online Belly Friendly education program, which focuses on safety and the emotional and physical aspects of pregnancy, and raises awareness for everything the client is experiencing. The front desk staff benefits from details on the common myths, etiquette, and faux pas of pregnancy, while therapists delve even deeper to explore safety and positioning as well as the aches and pains associated with hormonal and physical changes by trimester. What's more, Belly Friendly is supported by Mama Mio Skincare. Spas that are participating in the Belly Friendly program can be found at www.bellyfriendly.com in the ‘Find a Spa’ section.