Exercise & Fitness
Pregnancy is a great time to evaluate your priorities, and commit to investing in your health so you can have the best possible birth experience. This is the perfect time to start focusing on physical health — exercise and fitness.
Exercising in pregnancy can have many benefits including:
Better stamina for labor
Better sleep
Improved mental health
Prevent some pregnancy complications
Shorten labor by helping baby into a good position
Here are some ideas and resources that you may find helpful:
YouTube series of Yoga by Trimester:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmUJWKM98hM
Spinning Babies Daily Essentials
Gail Tully, midwife, and Sarah Longacre, international prenatal yoga instructor and birth doula, offer a unique instructional video for comfort in pregnancy now, and in your upcoming birth. These daily activities begin balancing your pregnant body to make space for baby’s best birth position.
Some videos to look up are Inversions, Side lying leg release, and 3-sisters of balance.
Three Sisters of Balance
The Three Sisters of Balance is a technique created by collaborators of Spinning Babies. It is made up of Rebozo shifting, Forward-leaning inversion, and Side-lying leg release.
Door Jamb Squats
Squatting was at one time the common way for everyone to sit and many bodyworkers say that our lack of squatting in modern society has lead to longer labors. A few benefits you may find by squatting are shortened second stage of labor, increasing the pelvic diameter, working with gravity, prevent lower back and hip pain, and increased endurance during labor. Watch Courtney show you how to do a proper door jamb squat.
