What is Pregnancy Yoga?
Pregnancy or prenatal yoga is a combination of breathing techniques, physical yoga poses
and relaxation. There are so many benefits and these will differ a little for each individual
pregnant mum. Pregnancy yoga is suitable for almost everyone. You do not need to have
ever practiced yoga or any other exercise before.
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The main benefits of Pregnancy Yoga are:
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Learning the best breathing techniques for relaxation, meditation, labour and birth
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Learning different positions and movements for labour and birth
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Reduction in depression, stress and anxiety levels
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Increased feelings of calm, peace and serenity
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Less likely to need pain relief during labour and birth
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Less likely to have an emergency caesarean section
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Connection, support and friendship with other pregnant mums
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Helps you to stay fit, strong and active
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Learning relaxation techniques that help calm you and your baby
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Improved sleep
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Helping with different aches, pains and common pregnancy complaints
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A chance to switch off from a busy life to create some special time for you and your baby
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Research has also confirmed additional (perhaps less obvious) benefits:
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Improved birth weight
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Reduces risk of pregnancy induced high blood pressure
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Reduced risk of preterm/perma labour
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Narendran et al (2005)
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A systematic review of pregnancy/prenatal yoga studies confimed the following benefits:
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Shorter labour
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Reduced risk of obstetric complications
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Lower pain levels and increased enjoyment of labour
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Improved mental health
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Kawanishi et al (2015)
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Practicing yoga when you're pregnant:
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Always make sure your yoga teacher knows that you’re pregnant as certain poses need to be avoided and some poses will need to be modified. Where possible, try to attend a specialist pregnancy/prenatal yoga class for maximum benefits.
Alison Fiddler at www.yogapanacea.com has been teaching pregnancy yoga since 2010 and was a midwife for 22 years. Alison combines lots of birth preparation information into her pregnancy classes so you know how to use all your pregnancy yoga techniques as you prepare for the birth of your baby.
