Prenatal Yoga
Preparing for the Birth You Want
I can still picture myself sitting cross-legged with a room full of pregnant women in my first prenatal yoga class. It was my first trimester—early enough that I was self-conscious about my flat stomach next to these full-bellied beauties, and I hadn’t yet entered the I’m-sick-as-dog-can’t-get-out-of-bed-to-go-to-yoga phase.
To begin class, the teacher had us move into small groups to share our due dates, what was going well with our pregnancies, and where we might be feeling some fear or anxiety. Our group meandered into a discussion of birth plans. I learned that two of the four women in my group were planning to birth with midwives at home, and another was planning to “go natural” at a birthing center. We were all first-time moms-to-be, but I was the only one with no plan or philosophy about what would be right for me. Before long, I figured out that most of the students in class were planning to give birth without epidurals or other medical intervention, many at home or in birthing centers.
I remember feeling a little excluded that day, like I wasn’t a member of the club. These beautiful mamas seemed so very sure of their methods. I admired their resolve, but I also felt like there wasn’t enough space in the room for people who didn’t have the same philosophy, or who hadn’t yet figured it out.
I also wondered what would happen if Mother Nature had a different plan, and some of these women wouldn’t get the birth experiences they had in mind. Would they be left feeling guilty or inadequate when the births of their babies called for an epidural, a c-section, or some other form of medical intervention?
My feeling of not belonging in class that day helped shape the way I teach prenatal yoga. Though I would eventually choose to labor and give birth without an epidural, my goal as a teacher is to create an environment in which each student feels free to find a path that feels right for her. I encourage each student to:
- Educate herself. There are many options for how and where and with whom a woman might give birth. This means thinking bigger than the hospital’s three-hour Labor and Childbirth 101.
- Choose her own path. When she’s done the work of checking out options, a mom-to-be can choose her path with more confidence and without worrying too much about the naysayers (who will always be there no matter what path she chooses). I encourage my students to choose with awareness that pregnancy and childbirth are bound to throw them curve balls, so be open to all the possibilities.
- Prepare herself. Through prenatal yoga and childbirth classes, women today can learn about and practice a wide variety of tools and techniques to support them in any birthing scenario.
Whether you plan to give birth in your own cozy bedroom or atop crisp hospital sheets, a prenatal yoga practice can help you prepare for labor and delivery. Here are a few elements I think are among the most helpful.
Getting to Know Your Breath
The most important anchor for a laboring mom is deep, full breathing. The practice of basic yogic breathing techniques—such as dirgha (three-part breath), ujjayi (ocean breath), and sama vritti (balanced breath)—stimulates our bodies’ parasympathetic nervous system. This automatically slows the heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and boosts the release of endorphins, the body’s natural “feel good” drug. Another technique we explore in prenatal yoga is learning to exhale with vocalization. Using the sounds of “hmm,” “ahhh,” “oooh, or “sssss” encourages the laboring mom’s commitment to a deep inhale and a long, slow exhale.
While I can tell moms how important I believe deep breathing is, each person must discover what breathing techniques are most effective for her at a given moment. It is likely that she will move instinctively between techniques as she progresses through the stages of labor. The most important thing is to commit to an awareness of her breath and trust that it can help her navigate each contraction.
Building Endurance of Body and Mind
A well-rounded prenatal yoga class will include a good helping of strength-building postures to increase endurance. This endurance allows women to be active during labor—particularly important for those choosing to labor longer at home or planning for an unmedicated birth—so that they may walk, squat, and change positions freely. This kind of movement helps move babies into the birth canal and into OFP, or optimal fetal position, which means that baby is lined up to fit through your pelvis most easily when you’re ready to push.
One of my favorite endurance-building techniques for prenatal yoga is the endurance squat at the wall. I ask students to imagine that they are sitting in an imaginary chair with their backs against the wall, so the quads are called upon to be very active. We generally hold this pose for one minute—about the length of a typical contraction—and repeat twice. These squats not only strengthen the muscles of the legs in preparation for labor, but they help each student explore how her mind reacts as the pose becomes uncomfortable. Over time, students discover that focusing on the breath, using vocalization, and relaxing muscles that don’t need to be involved can help the pose feel less intense and more manageable.
Being Part of a Community
A former prenatal student, whose baby girl is now six months old, came to my regular adult class recently. Afterward, she told me that she’s enjoying getting back into yoga, but she really wishes she could keep coming to her prenatal yoga class. She, like many prenatal students I hear from after their babies have arrived, felt the prenatal yoga community was one of her most important sources of support and friendship during pregnancy.
A prenatal yoga class can provide important camaraderie and an opportunity for moms to kvetch in a way that just isn’t the same with a husband or partner! Students learn how women around them are preparing for childbirth, and often get to hear the birth stories of classmates who deliver weeks or months before them. Many of my students share birth stories by email after babies are born, or they bring their new babies to class to share their stories in person.
Keeping an Open Mind and Riding the Waves
One of the most essential lessons we can learn during pregnancy—and carry with us throughout our years of parenting—is to make way for the unexpected. Who knows, you may find out tomorrow that you’re carrying twins (or triplets!), or you have gestational diabetes, or you’ll need to be on bed rest for the next six weeks. When dreaming of our pregnant selves, we rarely envision these scenarios. Just as we can hold tightly to a particular vision of what our pregnancies should look like, we can create some very solid ideas about how our childbirth experiences will unfold.
In the fabulous book for moms, Momma Zen, Karen Maezen Miller puts it beautifully: “We think we are the captain of the ship. We are prepared to steer, to give orders, and to reach our intended destination just the way we want to…When you go into labor, you see that you are not the captain of the ship. You are the ship. There is no captain. There are only the waves.”
As much as we try to manage and control our experiences, the unpredictable waves of pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood are here to teach us how to surrender to the natural currents of our lives. Just as prenatal yoga teaches us how to breathe and release tension from our bodies while holding challenging poses, it can also help us ride the waves of what’s ahead with greater ease and awareness.