1. Her body hurts
Short Answer: Even if she doesn’t complain, her body is hurting. Pregnancy changes muscles, bones, and everything else. Even if it isn’t a first, no two pregnancies are the same, plus she may be dealing with lifting and carrying other young children, which are heavy. So she hurts even if she says that everything is fine.
More details: During pregnancy, the muscles in a mom's core stretch and pull to accommodate the growing belly. This also changes the actual shape of her skeleton including her rib cage, neck, and spine. Additionally, her blood volume increases by at least 50%, her heart has to work harder to push all that fluid around and feed 2 humans, plus there is gravity pulling all of that down, and she still has to move around and function in a normal capacity with walking, lifting things, pushing things, and more. The body goes through some major physical changes, and massage can help keep it all calm and a little less painful.
2. She can use the mental break
Short answer: Moms-to-be stress about a lot of things. Not only does she have to focus on keeping herself and her new baby healthy, she has all of real life, other kids, work, etc to worry about. A massage does more than relieve pain, it gives her stress relief and a quiet change to rest.
More details: In order to keep baby growing properly, mom's body's a ton of extra hormones that are being released. This helps baby but also helps her body do what it needs to do to keep herself healthy. These hormones, although they can be useful, are often foreign to the body in that they aren't there all the time, so it causes some 'confusion' with the regular hormones, which can affect emotions, stress, anxiety, and more. Add onto that the usual stress and anxiety that moms are facing and going through on a daily basis, and her brain is constantly spinning. Forced time in the quiet can help calm the mind, balance the hormones and emotions, and bring a better sense of calm.
3. An easier, healthier pregnancy may make for an easier delivery
Short answer: If mom can be relatively unstressed, and her muscles aren’t overly tight and painful, it can prevent her pregnancy from potentially developing any issues, which improves the likelihood of a complication-free delivery.
More details: Stress is unavoidable, and too much stress can cause issues other than the usual symptoms. Too much imbalance can affect blood pressure, glucose absorption, and muscle tightness which could lead to issues such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and muscles so tight, the baby can't get out, forcing a C-section. While some issues, especially during delivery, are unavoidable no matter how well a mom takes care of herself, keeping herself healthy and non-stressed can help reduce the likelihood that any major complications can develop.
4. She deserves it
Short answer: Moms-to-be are dealing with a LOT of stuff. Between physical stuff, emotional stuff, and everything else happening in life, she’s growing a human being! She deserves one hour of time to herself to be pampered, relax, and feel good.
More details: Women in general are always viewed as, and expected to be viewed as, super women. They can keep going no matter what life throws at them. They still do need to take care of themselves, which they usually do last, after putting everyone around them first. She deserves some time for herself for self care. Putting aside the facts that her body is changing shape every day, her hormones and subsequently her emotions are all over the place. She is still dealing with every day tasks such as jobs, caring for the house, possibly other children and taking care of her family. Not to mention the stuff in the back of her mind like the changes the family will go through after the baby arrives, finances, her health, the baby’s health, and the anticipated delivery itself. She deserves some self-care and some help giving herself permission to step back, rest, and care for herself.
