Medical Spas Review

Bangkok’s special maternity spa

By Jim Carr

Ever been asked to give a baby a massage? Well, it’s quite common at B. Care Maternity and Wellness Spa in Bangkok, where they give massages to babies as young as one month to two years.

It’s part of B. Care’s mother and child wellness program pioneered by Dr. Pitak Thanbancha, business director of B. Care Medical Center next door. The “B” stands for Best but businesses are not allowed to call themselves “the best” in Thailand.

“Babies need massages as well,” he said as we sat down in the spa’s dining room. “It’s not like a real massage because babies are not co-ordinated. You play with them and give them a massage at the same time. Human touch is a good way to give children a feeling of love.”

The dining room is bright and airy. The ceilings are high and the walls painted white. Light spills in from the floor-o-ceiling windows onto the gleaming white tiled floor. Outside, a small pool has water lilies growing out of it and on the other side, large shade trees hide B. Care Medical Center across the driveway.

Dr. Thanbancha, who holds a PhD in medical economics as well as a medical degree, launched the spa to combine treatments at the hospital with preventative and recuperative care – “so that patients leave with much less pain and in a more positive frame of mind”.

There’s also a strong medical tourism aspect to it, he says. People who come to Thailand for medical procedures, such as knee surgery, can recuperate for a short period and leave stronger and happier.

But B. Care Spa’s main focus is on caring for women while they are pregnant and later, if they are suffering from post partum depression. During pregnancy, women have problems when their bodies change – their feet swell and, in many cases, feel stress.

Exercise in water, he notes, is particularly helpful during this period. It reduces pressure on the ankles and joints and if you exercise regularly, such as twice a week, less pain during delivery.

After pregnancy – in the post partum phase – the problem is often excess weight and post partum blues because of fluctuation in the individual’s hormone levels.

“Some women who suffer from post partum depression worry about their body change and how their spouses feel about them. We have a special program for them. We combine modern and ancient Thai treatments that include heat and herbs and adapted to a modern spa setting. It includes a massage and an appointment with a dermatologist for treating the patient’s stretch marks.”

The spa also holds seminars to help women understand why post partum  blues occur and what can be done about it by way of treatments. “If we want to make people healthier,” said Dr. Thanbancha, “this is the place to start. Every woman experiences some kind of problems and we can prevent many of them.”

It was the main reason why he decided to focus on this area to help women in these situations. It’s something he has seen frequently in his family practice and started asking himself how he could help. His wife, a gynecologist, provided another level of expertise.

B. Care Spa also targets chronic diseases like hypertension and diabetes. These diseases need treatments as well as knowledge and lifestyle modification.

In the case of diabetes, the doctor may prescribe medications to control blood sugars but often that’s not enough, says Dr. Thanbancha. “People must also adjust their lifestyles to help themselves.”

B. Care Spa has a special program, lasting one or two weeks, for people who can’t control their condition to adjust and start a new diet designed to help them do just that, even creating special menus for them.

Weight loss and exercise play a critical role. For most guests, that means providing them with knowledge about the disease and their weight, and creating a new eating program that works for them.

The spa also has a special weight control program for children, especially for boys. “It’s important to get to people before the problem takes hold … trying to change the lifestyles of adults is very difficult because it’s often been ingrained for 20 years or more. But with children, we can do more by adjusting their habits early.”

While creating a menu that individuals love to eat is important, so is exercise and getting professional advice about their medications.

Working closely with the hospital, the spa also provides help to cancer patients and their families with information on cancer therapy and helping them make decisions about their own on their quality of life. That includes making them aware of services to make their lives better and helping them deal with the problem once they leave the hospital and the spa.

In the case of stroke patients, the spa works in tandem with the hospital through massages, physiotherapy and herbal drinks to help improve memory and the patient’s sense of smell. The spa also has smell, touch and visual tests and programs that play back the sounds of water, birds, etc.  Like the dining room, spa reception is bright and airy with two-storey-high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows painted in white, cream and green – a colonial style dating back to Rama V and best described as half Thai and half European. Traditional Thai buildings are very dark.  On entry, guests are given a menu of treatments and asked to fill out a medical questionnaire that deals with things like diabetes, hypertension, if they’ve had major surgery recently, etc.  “With some surgery, you can’t have massages,” says Pachaporn Charnvises, spa manager. “We don’t offer massages in he case of cancer patients for fear of spreading the cancer. If you have hypertension, a softer, more tender touch is needed.”  The spa’s treatment room is located on the second floor and can handle up to four people at one time or four people singlely, says Pachaporn, whose Thai nickname is Pim Pim.  Small statues, showing different postures for the traditional Thai massage, are positioned at different locations as we walk down the oak floor to the spa’s outdoor pool. The spa holds swimming classes for children on Saturdays and Sundays and special courses for pregnant women during weekdays. Aquatic exercises, Pilates and yoga round out the program.

Massages for mothers-to-be include a nurturing massage, a pre and post-natal head and body treatment for pregnant and nursing mothers. The treatment is adapted to deal with how the client looks and feels at different stages during and after pregnancy. It treats fluid retention, stress and fatigue and muscular aches to reduce stress-bearing joints such as ankles, knees and lower back.

Its head massage – a special head and scalp massage with selected aroma oils to help new mothers to relax, relieve stress and tension. The head massage enriches hair follicles and reduces hair breakage and stimulates new hair growth – common pregnancy problems.

B. Care’s lymphatic massage is considered an ideal treatment for mothers-to-be in their third trimester and at the post-partum stage. It helps to relieve body fluid retention, leg swelling, leg pain and numbness. This massage also encourages blood circulation, lymphatic fluid flow and eases tired muscles.

There’s also a special aromatherapy massage for breast and belly. In this treatment, the oil used helps to improve the skin’s elasticity and reduce stretch marks in the belly, breast and thigh.

Warm water and salt are used to reduce aching in stress-bearing ankles and feet in a special leg and foot treatment for swollen legs. A foot massage, using selected oil and balm, helps to relieve heaviness from long-day walking and standing.

The spa’s port-partum body contouring treatment helps the body return to its pre-pregnancy state, speeds recovery by providing pain relief and promoting relaxation.

There’s even a special facial treatment and massage with a natural organic product to promote relaxing and improve tonicity and smoothness of the face. This treatment, which lasts about an hour, includes a total cleanse and exfoliation to get rid of dead cells. The spa also has a body scrub and body mask to relieve hyper pigmentation problems, especially at the back of the neck and groin.

Foot care is especially difficult for mothers-to-be in their second and third trimesters due to their expanding uterus. The spa’s manicure and pedicare treatments help to restore healthy nail appearance and good hygiene.

B. Care uses all natural ingredients in its body and facial treatments. “We focus on the five senses and have designed everything, including décor and air fragrance to appeal to the senses,” said Dr. Dr. Thanbancha.

He also noted that the spa’s therapists have undergone special training at the Buddhist temple in the ancient Thai massage techniques.  The spa also offers an interesting range of facials and massages in addition to its maternity and post-partum treatments. Its hot stone facial, for example, uses heated and cold semi-precious stones in a special treatment to create a younger and firmer complexion. The B. Care face massage, another popular treatment, uses special massage techniques to suit the client’s specific skin type. Products with natural ingredients are used to stimulate the skin.  B. Care’s balancing massage, originally a Japanese massage, is designed to restore the body’s natural water balance, while its Thai herbal compress massage reduces swelling, skin irritation and pain and stimulates blood circulation. There’s also an aroma massage, which is available in a variety of aromatic essential oil blends.  And the future for medical spas?  Use of more equipment – detoxing, oxygen, etc. That’s pretty well a given, says Dr. Thanbancha, who also raises the possibility of using stem cells to make skin cells younger.  He calls it “the next defining step for medical spas. It’s not acceptable now but in the future …”