I love massages. My husband and I usually get them in the comfort of our home, after a tiring day.

When you're pregnant, though, a masseuse has to take extra care when massaging you. There are certain reflexology points that the masseuse shouldn't touch. And of course, she should be comfortable massaging you even if you're in a side-lying position.

The thing is, since I've gotten pregnant, I've encountered therapists who've said that they know how to massage pregnant women, but who don't really seem to know what they're doing. So finally, after some hits and some misses, I'm trying to compile a list of home-service massage companies in Metro Manila that actually have therapists trained in pre-natal massage.

Let's start with the easy ones, the ones that actually advertise pre-natal massage among their list of services. So far, I've found the following:

Mom Massage specializes in massage for moms. They do prenatal, postpartum, and lactation massages. The company is based in Quezon City and they accept appointments between 10:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., Mondays through Sundays. Tel numbers: 391-8599 or (0917)898-8437. The costs are prohibitive though: P1000 for a 1.5 hour home-service massage.

Zen Asia Spa and Massage also advertises "pregnant massage," which costs P250 per hour. They have two branches: one services Pasay, Makati and Manila (tel. 5623601) and one that services Greenhills, Ortigas, Mandaluyong and Quezon City (tel. 7253585). They're open 24 hours a day. I was pleased with my massage. My husband, though, was content with but not ecstatic about his Swedish massage.

I Love Massage also advertises pre-natal masage (P250/hour). They're based in Makati and are open 24 hours a day. Telephone numbers: 729-5451 and 729-9988.

Now, what about the ones who say they can do pre-natal massage. Can they really? I didn't keep track of my previous experiences with therpaists claiing they know ow to do prenatal massage, so I need to start from scratch and find that one at a time.

La Muy Bien is open daily from 1 pm to 1 am. P250/hour. Telephone numbers: 625-6209 and 6338570. My husband was very happy with his regular Swedish massage, but I wasn't as thrilled with my pre-natal massage. The therapist massaged my legs downwards (away from the torso) which, from what I've read, isn't very good if you're at risk for varicose veins (which pregnant women are). She also didn't appear to make a conscious effort to avoid the pressure points which you aren't supposed to touch in pregnant women.

I was pretty happy with Massage At Home (telephone number 6386003). They're also open from 1 pm to 1 am and are based in Makati. Their regular massages are P250/hour, but their prenatal massage is P300/hour. The therapist they sent seemed to know what she was doing, and didn't automatically assume that I wanted a light massage just because I'm pregnant. :)

I'll update this post as I go along.