4 Pregnancy Exercises for Normal Delivery

I'm a huge proponent of normal and natural delivery.  I believe a huge part of having success in that is keeping your body strong during pregnancy to help you be able to deliver your baby easier.  Labor doesn't have to be a scary thing and in fact it wasn't until more modern times when women became weaker and domesticated that child birth became something that was seen as an extremely difficult and painful process.  

Now, I can't promise you won't feel pain (I certainly haven't had that experience). BUT I do believe there's things you can do to create a better birth experience and the first thing is truly taking care of your body.

These are four great moves to help you have a normal delivery without complications.  A huge part of this process is maintaining strength and flexibility in your pelvic region and core.  

Some tips: Always make sure to consult your doc before starting a new exercise program, drink lots of water, get warmed up before you exercise, and if you are too tired do not do these exercises.  

1. Downward Dog:

This is a great position to help you support your thigh muscles.  Its benefits a good holding capacity which is needed during delivery.  Extend your legs on all fours, float your butt up, press your heels and palms into the floor.  Hold for a minute or two and then release.  An alternative for pregnancy is to use a chair or wall to support a flat back and not overextend.  

2. Squats: 

Squats are a great move for building strength in your pelvic area and legs.  This can help reduce pain in delivery when your pelvic muscles are strong.  Always make sure to squat on your full foot, not ball of foot with your ankles under your knees, knees hip width apart. 

3. Pelvic tilts or cat/cow stretch can be done all through pregnancy. This helps keep the pelvis loose and lower back flexible.  Make sure to not overextend in either direction so you don't hurt your lower back.

4. Forward leaning inversion:

This is where you start kneeling on a couch or bed and then lower your upper body to the floor creating an inverted position.  If you’ve ever been on spinning babies.com this is a classic to get babies in the right position.  This creates more room in the lower uterus thus enabling baby to move and position more freely.  

Note: do not do this exercise if you are having cramps or pain of an undetermined origin.

Start this exercise by kneeling on the edge of a bed, couch or sturdy chair. Carefully lower yourself so that your forearms are touching the floor with the elbows out and hands close. Allow your head to hang freely. Your bottom should be up. Your legs and back are in a triangle position, so you are forward and not just inverted with your chin tucked to chest. Hold the position for 30 seconds. 


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