Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Antonescu.
Hi Maria, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
How did I get to where I am today? Hmm, let’s see. In high school, I took a two-day community education class in massage and left the first evening knowing that I would become a massage therapist. I graduated from Mpls School of Massage & Bodywork in 2000 and massage has been a big part of my life since. In massage school, we had a whole course dedicated to pregnancy massage and I also learned abdominal massage – both of which are rare in massage programs now.
Some of the different places I have practiced massage over the last twenty-three years: are small massage business, backstage at the Target Center, chair massage in office buildings, health fairs, sports events, bachelorette parties, and backyard barbecues. For a few years, I was an adjunct massage teacher at a few different colleges in both MN and WI. When I opened up a little massage practice in Spooner, WI I met a great midwife Jessica, and a lovely doula. Through them, my interest in birthwork grew and I took a doula course, though didn’t pursue birthwork because my passions changed as I had my first baby.
After my oldest daughter was born with gastroschisis, thirteen years ago, I started learning more abdominal massage and gentle scar tissue techniques to help her grow well after her surgery. This turned into seeing clients for abdominal massage and scar tissue work. Which turned into seeing many pregnant and postpartum clients. All this time I was rather obsessed with reading any book that had to do with the abdomen and pelvic floor. I took online and in-person classes from a wide range of disciplines. Some of the bodywork techniques I learned were handed down by midwives.
Local midwives started referring their clients to me for bodywork to help relieve common (but often unnecessary) pregnancy complaints. Connecting with amazing local midwives re-peaked my interest in birth work. I attended all three of my sister’s home births. At my sister’s second birth, midwife Margo joked that Amanda (sister) and I would become sister-midwives because we took so much interest in everything that was happening. We looked at each other, laughed, and said “No way!” Two years later, I started Indie Birth Midwifery School online and apprenticed with the above-mentioned midwife. My sister is an amazing doula and we sometimes attend the same births – which is my favorite!
I am fortunate to have a supportive husband and understanding children while I balance having a massage practice and being on-call – which is unpredictable. For the last two years, I have been apprenticing with Chandra of First Memory Midwifery and recently started Primary Under Supervision – this is the final phase in my apprenticeship where I have a more active role in prenatal appointments, labors, births, and postpartum care – always under the guidance of the midwife. Eventually, I will have my midwifery homebirth practice where I can blend in bodywork too.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Balancing my passions with mom-ing can be a bit of a juggling act. My two wonderful kiddos are home-schooled and have passions of their own, so I pretty much have to write EVERYTHING in my Google calendar and refer to it often to not double book and make sure we have plenty of downtime. Babies have a schedule of their own, and fortunately, my massage clients have always been understanding and flexible to sudden schedule shifts.
The midwives I have worked with have all been understanding of my family’s needs. One such example: I’m never expected to attend prenatal appointments on my children’s birthdays or my anniversary. This may seem like a small act of kindness to some, but it helps me keep boundaries around my family time and let my kids know they are a priority.
One challenge has been becoming less reliable for my friends, “Unless I’m at a birth” is a constant phrase. Luckily, I have some understanding friends who support me and help transport my kids to activities when needed. Having a massage practice in my house is ideal because I can be with my kids between clients. It is good for my kids to see what I do and the creativity it takes to follow through on passions.
Life has been relatively smooth. The struggles have given way to strengths. I often reevaluate and notice what is working at what isn’t. Then come up with creative solutions.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in abdominal massage, pelvic mobility, and gentle scar tissue release. Helping people have pleasant periods and comfortable pregnancies is my passion. My bodywork blend also includes looking at people’s movement patterns and suggesting little adjustments or simple movements to incorporate.
A massage session can look a lot of ways depending on what people want out of their session. Sometimes, the bodywork is done with the client fully clothed, sometimes people are under a sheet undressed to their comfort level and receive an oil massage, sometimes it’s a combo of the above. I always ask people “What would you ideally get out of your session today?” and then come up with a plan of action from there.
Client education is my passion – I love helping people learn more about their bodies. An hour-long massage is wonderful, but what a person does for the other twenty-three hours of the day will have a greater impact on their life. I created a YouTube channel to make it easy for clients to reference the moves I suggest. I am not active on social media but have found a YouTube channel to be extremely helpful.
On my website I have a little Periods Shouldn’t Hurt online course that helps people understand how periods work, how their shoe choices and sitting / standing positions can affect their period, and self-abdominal massage. Currently, I am training as a home-birth midwife and am excited to blend bodywork and birthwork. We have a great birth community here in Duluth that I am proud to be a part of; people are engaged and encouraging. It feels good to have women supporting women.
I have been practicing massage for over twenty three years and am grateful that I found my passion at a young age. Expanding into midwifery feels very fitting. Helping women and families navigate areas of life in which they may not have much experience is fun for me. I love sharing resources and information and am unattached to the decisions people make. I enjoy supporting people as they are and not trying to make them different.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
Is it luck that I’ve met the right people at the right time? I feel very fortunate to have met my husband as he always encourages me to follow my bliss even if it means more work for him. When I first started apprenticing with Margo, it only worked because my kids could play at her house while we were clients, I am grateful. Things have a way of working out.
I find it best to concentrate on a larger picture and not worry about the details. I don’t believe in bad luck; just learning and forgiveness opportunities. Yes, some things have come up that I didn’t enjoy at the moment, but somewhere down the road, I realized they were important ‘growing pains’ or helpful in my journey.
There had been a lot of stress around my daughter being born with gastroschisis, having a hospital birth (I had been planning a homebirth), and being in the NICU. Now I can feel the empathy and wisdom gained by the experience.
Pricing:
- Periods Shouldn’t Hurt online course $34
- 90 min Initial Massage $115
- 60 min Massage $85
- Maria as your Primary Midwife Under Supervision with Chandra Fisher $4800.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.massageandmovement.org/
- Instagram: @massage.movement.midwifery
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChbBWC4C8OJNGJ81XUNGgrg
Image Credits
Mandee Carlson, Amanda Lambert, and Madeline Mitchell
