Parent & Baby Courses

The IAIM First Touch Program™ is a friendly and relaxed program, backed-up by research, where all parents are welcome to come along and learn many different ways of using massage and touch to suit your family’s personal circumstances, as well as the unique and constantly changing needs of your individual baby. Not only does the First Touch Program™ include massage and touch, but you will also gain confidence in using voice, movement and other forms of communication to help soothe, settle and communicate with your little one, in only the way you can do. The IAIM First Touch Program™ is for parents and close family members of a baby aged from birth to 12 months.

The First Touch Program is a "Gold Standard" Course for parents, being the only infant massage course offered in Australia that...

...is recognised by health and child development experts as the highest quality program of its kind (Underdown & Barlow, 2011).

...ensures you & your baby are treated with the utmost respect with very small group numbers and using "best practices" in course structure (Bakermans, et al, 2003).

...has been shown in research to reduce crying, help improve settling and soothing, and to gently support your baby's development and well-being (Underdown, et al., 2006)

...has been shown in research to help protect and promote your baby's mental health, if you are recovering from Postnatal Depression (Onozawa, et al. 2001).

...has been shown in research to help babies bond with their dads, in turn improving baby's social and physical development (Scholz & Samuels, 1992).

...uses techniques and approaches that have been fully researched and properly trialled.


...is delivered by Instructors who have completed the most comprehensive, and only nationally accredited, instructor training in Australia.


You & Your Baby Deserve to Be Treated with Dignity:
The First Touch Course™ consists of five sessions, each one lasting around 1 – 1 ½ hours.

Parents attend the First Touch Program for a variety of reasons. Some families are looking for something fun to do with their babies, to meet other parents, or simply for some time "out-of-the-house". Other families are looking for help with particular issues - such as sleep, crying and settling. Whatever your motivations, we are committed to ensuring that you are treated with the utmost respect & dignity in the First Touch Program.

We achieve this by limiting goup sizes to a very small number and providing a sufficient number of sessions to allow you plenty of time to ask questions, learn a wide range of practical skills, and receive one-on-one attention from your Instructor. In the First Touch Program, you will have the same Instructor throughout the whole program, who takes the time to get to know you and your baby as individuals

Our philosophy is that you , the parent, are the expert and are encouraged to adapt the program to the needs of your own baby. The Instructor is there to guide you and help you understand what your baby is saying, if you are feeling a bit uncertain or unsure.

In our classes, babies also receive the same level of respect & dignity: there are no “one-size-fits-all” solutions or formulas. Sessions are structured so you won't miss out on any material just because your baby needs to have some milk, a cuddle, a sleep or a cry during the sessions. This is not an "activity" program where your baby needs to perform on demand. The First Touch Program is a course for parents designed to give you skills and ideas that you can use with your baby at home, and for many years to come.

Find a course in your area.


The Individual Needs of You and Your Baby:
Any parent can attend the First Touch Program™. This includes foster, adoptive and sole parents and families of all shapes, sizes, beliefs and lifestyles. It also includes family members – such as grandparents - who play an active and regular role in caring for the baby in their family.

In the First Touch Program fully trained Instructors work with each individual family in very small groups to adapt the program to suit the individual needs of each baby and family.

For this reason, we welcome babies who:

Are healthy and thriving


Are quiet and laid-back


Are wriggly, squirmy, crying or very active


Have some additional needs – such as a disability, or a medical condition


Were born prematurely or had a rough start in life



Gold Standard Quality for You and Your Baby:
Independent research conducted by the Medical School at the University of Warwick (Underdown & Barlow, 2011) identifies the IAIM program as the highest quality source of information and education for parents about infant touch and massage. In fact, the IAIM First Touch Program™ is the only parent infant massage and touch education program in Australia that has been subjected to any research, evaluation or trials (Onzawa, Glover, Adams, Modi & Kumar, 2001; Scholz & Samuels, 1992; Underdown, Barlow, Chung & Stewart-Brown, 2006; Underdown, Barlow & Stewart-Brown, 2010) and shown to support:

• Sleep, settling and soothing abilities
• Physical and motor development
• Confidence and self-esteem
• Smoother transitions through each developmental phase
• Empathy and other social skills

Together, all of these benefits help babies adjust to their new life and lay the foundations for a calm, confident and connected child and, ultimately, a happy adult.

Find Your Local Class:
Many parents are surprised to discover that, at present, there are no laws that regulate the delivery of "infant massage education" and any person (even people without any training or who have completed sub-standard training) can run "infant massage classes".

Therefore, always be sure to check that any person claiming to teach the First Touch Program™ (or any form of infant massage) is properly certified by the International Association of Infant Massage. Look for the IAIM logo, or check the Instructor Directory online. Alternatively you can contact us directly to check the credentials of your Instructor.

Instructors trained by IAIM to deliver The First Touch Program™ are the most thoroughly trained in Australia. The training program completed by IAIM instructors:

• Is the only nationally accredited curriculum for infant massage and touch education in Australia;
• Is the most highly recognised professional training program of its kind, endorsed by the Royal College of Nursing, the Australian College of Midwives, The Australian Association of Social Workers, The Australian Counselling Association, Occupational Therapy Australia, the Australian Association of Massage Therapists, and many others.
• Has its standards regularly monitored, reviewed and maintained by the only global organisation with expertise in infant massage and touch education.
• Is delivered in over 52 countries throughout the world

IAIM does not certify instructors who have completed "fast-track" courses in infant massage or “correspondence courses” that rely on videos to teach instructors. Nor do we certify Instructors who have completed training that has not been properly researched or evaluated. We require all instructors to be assessed and observed by a suitably qualified trainer in person, and to complete extensive theory examinations, before we authorise them to deliver the IAIM program.

The standards to which an IAIM Instructor is trained are set down by an International Committee of health, medical and child development experts. This international committee meets every two years and reviews the program based on feedback from parents in the 52 countries where IAIM works, as well as the latest developments in research.

References and Further Reading

Onzawa,K., Glover, V., Adams, D., Modi, N. & Kumar, R. (2001). Infant massage improves mother-infant ineraction for mothers with postnatal depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 63, 201-207.

Scholz, K. & Samuels, C. (1992). Neonatal bathing and massage intervention with fathers. Behavioural effects 1 weeks after the birth of the baby: The Sunraysia Australia Intervention Project. International Journal of Behavioural Development, 15, 67-81.

Underdown, A. & Barlow, J. (2011). Interventions to support early relationships: mechanisms identified within infant massage programs. Community Practitioner, 84 (4), 21-26.

Underdown, A., Barlow, J. & Stewart-Brown, S. (2010). Tactile stimulation in physically healthy infants: results of a systematic review. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 28 (1), 11-29.

Underdown, A., Barlow, J., Chung, V. & Stewart-Brown, S. (2006). Massage intervention for promoting mental and physical health in infants aged under six months. The Cochrane Library, Issue 6.