Written by

Gina Conley, MS

December 10, 2024

8-Minute Birth Prep Mobility Flow: Create Space in Your Pelvis

Birth, Birth Preparation, Fitness, Pregnancy, Prenatal

Pregnancy is a journey of growth, change, and preparation, especially when it comes to preparing your body for the birthing process. A key element in this preparation is creating space in your pelvis. The pelvis is made up of three levels that need to open up at different times during labor, and each one requires specific movements to help facilitate this. In this blog post, we’ll dive into a targeted 8-minute pelvic mobility flow designed to help you prepare your body for birth by creating space in each of the three pelvic levels.

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The Three Pelvic Levels: What You Need to Know

Before we jump into the mobility flow, let’s first understand the three pelvic levels that we will be focusing on. During labor, your baby must navigate through these areas of the pelvis to move into position for birth:

Pelvic Inlet (Top of the Pelvis): This is where the baby engages and enters the pelvis. It’s wide and opens more with external hip rotation, which helps create side-to-side space.
Mid Pelvis (Middle of the Pelvis): Often the narrowest part, this area requires asymmetrical movements to create enough space for the baby to rotate through.
Pelvic Outlet (Bottom of the Pelvis): This is the final passage, where the baby extends under the pubic bone to be born. It opens more with internal hip rotation, helping create space side-to-side at the bottom of the pelvis.

Each of these areas requires different types of movement, and we’ll incorporate them all into this flow to give you a well-rounded pelvic preparation.

The 8-Minute Birth Prep Mobility Flow

1. Frog Pose (Pelvic Inlet)

We start with frog pose, a powerful movement for opening up the top of the pelvis. In this pose, your legs are spread wide, with your ankles aligned to your knees. The external rotation of your hips creates more space in the pelvic inlet, helping the baby move down into the pelvis.

To perform frog pose:

Sit with your knees wide apart, feet facing out.
Place your forearms on the ground for support, or rest your chest and hips on pillows for comfort.
Gently rock back and forth to deepen the stretch, but avoid pushing too hard.
Breathe deeply to release tension in the groin and hips.

Went into spontaneous labor at 38 wks with baby #1 last night (born this morning) and was able to push through a very fast and intense labor (8 hrs active, 4 hrs of contractions with basically NO BREAK in between that got me from 1cm dilated to fully 😵‍💫) unmedicated! Pushed for an hr! I thank you both, your prenatal fitness program, and prepping pelvic floor fit birth for how much I rocked this delivery. THANK YOU!!!

I just wanted to leave a review for you, I took your prenatal bundle with the birth course, fitness app, and pelvic floor prep. I can't say enough good things about it, my only regret was not enrolling sooner! After having some nagging SI and pelvic pain, at 22 weeks I enrolled in your program and started the workouts on the app. After a few weeks,my pain was minimal except for the days I missed a workout or getting in movement. The birth course was very informative and I felt confident and excited about giving birth. While I did need to be induced at 39 weeks, I felt confident and understood my options. I had a great and speedy delivery with just a minor tear. I attribute this to the strategic movements I learned in the course throughout my labor and breathing during pushing, along with wonderful hospital staff. We were blessed with a healthy baby girl Ellie Jo. I look forward to using the fitness program again in the future and other courses you have! Thank you for all the time you put into creating such thorough content!

For what it's worth, I'm a PT myself (not a pelvic floor specialist), but am going to a PFPT. I also took a CEU course for my license and my own learning on pelvic floor health in pregnancy. With that background, I am utterly impressed with the content of your course so far. I was wondering if it'd be repetitive at all from the CEUs I recently took, but it hasn't been. It's so informative, thorough, and covers way more topics than I ever expected. Thank you!!

2. 90/90 & Side Camel (Mid Pelvis)

The 90/90 hip rotation targets the middle of the pelvis, helping to open up space with both internal and external hip rotation. This movement is asymmetrical, meaning one leg will rotate externally while the other rotates internally—perfect for helping your baby navigate through this bony area.

To perform the 90/90 with side camel:

Sit on the floor with one leg in front of you at a 90-degree angle, and the other leg to the side at a 90-degree angle.
Reach overhead with the arm opposite your internally rotated leg, stretching through the side body.
Then, place your opposite hand behind you and extend your hip to feel a deep stretch in the hip flexor.
Continuing alternating between the two stretches for about 1 minute.
Switch to the other side.

3. All-Fours Hip Shift (Mid Pelvis)

Next, we move to the all-fours hip shift, which opens the pelvis with internal and external pelvic rotation. This movement helps create space in the mid pelvis by shifting your body weight from one side to the other, allowing for internal and external pelvic rotation.

To perform the hip shift:

Start on all fours with one knee elevated on a yoga block.
Shift your body weight to the side of the elevated knee, lifting the opposite knee off the ground.
Lower the lifted knee back down and repeat, making sure your legs stay parallel to each other.
Switch sides and repeat the movement.

4. Internally Rotated Child’s Pose (Pelvic Outlet)

The final movement in our flow is the internally rotated child’s pose, which targets the pelvic outlet. With your knees inward and ankles outward, this position opens the bottom of the pelvis, allowing for the final stretch as your baby moves through the pelvic outlet to be born.

To perform the internally rotated child’s pose:

Kneel on the floor with your knees closer together and your feet wider apart.
Sit your hips back towards your heels while extending your arms forward. Feel free to use a pillow or bolster.
Relax into the pose, focusing on releasing tension in the hips and lower back.
Breathe deeply, letting go of any remaining tightness in the pelvic floor and hips.

Why These Movements Matter

Each of these movements is designed to open up a specific part of the pelvis and allow for better alignment and space during birth.

The frog pose helps with external hip rotation, which creates space at the top of the pelvis for the baby to enter.
The 90/90 hip rotation and all-fours hip shift open the mid pelvis, which is often the most restrictive area for the baby as it rotates and moves down.
The internally rotated child’s pose works on the pelvic outlet, helping to make space at the bottom of the pelvis, which is key for the final phase of birth.

Final Thoughts

This 8-minute pelvic mobility flow is a great addition to your daily routine as you prepare for labor. By working through these movements, you can help release tension, open the pelvis, and create space for your baby to navigate through each level of the pelvis. Consistent practice of this flow will not only improve your pelvic mobility but also help you feel more prepared and empowered for the birth process.

If you’d like more support in your pregnancy journey, check out this 9-Minute Hip Mobility Flow or this Third Trimester Birth Prep Mobility Flow. All of our content and fitness programs include a variety of exercises to help you stay strong, pain-free, and ready for childbirth.

Remember, the more prepared your body is, the smoother and easier your birth experience will be. So take some time each day to connect with your body, release tension, and create space in your pelvis. You’ve got this!

MamasteFit's Prenatal Workout Programs

If you want more daily workouts to support a strong pregnancy as you prepare for birth, join our online prenatal fitness programs!

MamasteFit is unique in that we are one of the ONLY prenatal/postnatal training facilities in the United States. We develop our workout programs from our experience of working with in-person pre/postnatal fitness clients and work closely with physical therapists to refine our programming. In addition, we are birth workers, so we combine our experience as perinatal fitness trainers and birth professionals to ensure that our programs actually support your birth preparation and recovery!

Our prenatal fitness programs are offered in several formats:

40-Week Prenatal Strength Program in the Teambuildr App:
- This program is a self-paced workout with shorter demo videos. This is ideal if you like to workout in a gym setting and prefer a traditional workout delivery format.
- This program syncs to your current week of pregnancy, so you can start anytime, with one-time payment or month-to-month payment options.
- This program has a full and mini version, depending on how much time you have to dedicate to workouts!
Prenatal On-Demand Fitness Program:
- If you prefer to follow a video as you workout at the same time, this workout program will be the best option!
- This program syncs to your current trimester, so you can grab the trimesters you need!
Birth Prep Workout Program:
- If you already have a workout routine or you only want birth prep-focused workouts, check out this program!
- This program includes full-length workout videos to follow as you workout at the same time.
Prenatal Yoga Classes:
- If you want prenatal yoga, join our prenatal yoga program! This also syncs to your current trimester.