The good news is I’ve already figured it out for you with our MamasteFit Prenatal Fitness Programs and Birth Prep Workout Program–so you can join those programs instead of trying to reinvent the wheel!
If you do want to learn more of the WHY behind our exercise selection, in this blog, I’m going to break down a birth preparation workout I did during my 26th week of pregnancy to help prepare my body for birth!
I’ve been incorporating birth preparation focused exercises since the first trimester, as many of these exercises double as a hip strengthening exercises to support prenatal comfort too! So, many of these exercises may be familiar to you if you’ve been doing our prenatal programming.
The exercises included in this birth prep workout included:
Mobility Exercises:
- Inversion to support baby’s position
- MamasteFit Birth Prep Circuit
- Back Expansion Breathing Drill
- Lat Release
- Hip Flexor Release
- All Fours Hip Shift
- Standing Hip Shift
- 90/90 Side Camel
- Adductor Rock Back with Thoracic Rotation
Strength Exercises:
- Staggered Stance RDL
- Lateral Hip Shifts with Weight
- Archer Row and Press with Band
You may notice that there is not a big emphasis on external hip rotation or wide knee positions, but rather much more of an emphasis on hip shifts and internal hip/pelvic rotation. This is because external hip rotation tends to be really easy to find during pregnancy, but internal hip rotation may be more challenging and the inability to find IR could cause issues during labor!
Our prenatal workouts reflect the common trends we see with our in-person prenatal fitness and birth clients! Many of us just have more issues finding internal hip rotation during pregnancy, so we overemphasize it during our programming to meet this demand. This is one of the very unique aspects of MamasteFit–we are one of the very few perinatal fitness trainers that actually train in-person pre/postnatal clients and are also birth workers.
Let’s explore the WHY behind each of these birth preparation exercises in more depth!
Supporting Baby's Position!
Around 24 weeks of pregnancy, your baby’s vestibular system begins to develop. This means that their sense of up and down is starting to develop and their position begins to matter more. Before this timeframe, your baby could be flipping from head down to breech throughout the day. But after 24 weeks, their position is starting to matter more!
If your baby is still breech at 28 weeks, likely, they will likely still be breech at your due date, so doing movements to support them to find a head-down position can be beneficial between 24-28 weeks (and beyond)!
In our prenatal program, we begin to incorporate inversions into our warm-up starting at 20 weeks, with more of an emphasis between 24-28 weeks and beyond to support your baby’s head-down position (hopefully)!
Other uterine ligaments support your baby’s position that we focus on releasing tension and finding balance so that your baby can find their best position when labor begins! We are not trying to force baby into a specific position–as the “best” position for baby will depend on a few factors, such as where they are located in the pelvis–but rather create the space so your baby can find their best position when labor begins.
Inversions
The forward-leaning inversion, or inversions in general, involve the hips being higher than the chest. In this position, the vertical running ligaments are stretched to release tension.
Forward leaning inversions release tension in the lower uterine ligaments to create more space in the bottom part of the uterus for your baby to find a head-down position. In addition, your baby’s entire body tends to be heavier than its head, so inversions could encourage them to find a head-down position, as well!
But with inversions, the key is that it creates MORE space in the lower uterine segment for your baby to find a head-down position!
In this workout video, we share a few exercises that release tension in the uterine ligaments to support your baby’s position for birth! Again, we are not trying to FORCE baby into any specific position, but rather ensure that there is space for baby to find their best position. We are essentially establishing the environment for our baby to move easiest!
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The MamasteFit Birth Prep Circuit
Next, I moved through the MamasteFit Birth Prep Circuit after the forward-leaning inversion! The MamasteFit Birth Prep Circuit targets common areas of tension that we have during pregnancy to make it easier for you to open your pelvis for birth!
During pregnancy, we tend to favor an arched back (spine extension with an anterior pelvic tilt) and more external hip rotation (toes out). This is more comfortable for us during pregnancy as our belly grows! But, this common position usually results in tighter lats, hip flexors, and posterior pelvic floor!
Our birth prep circuit targets these common areas of tension to make it easier for you to find a rounded back position and internal hip rotation–both of which are really important to creating space in the top of the pelvis to help baby engage (posterior pelvic tilt) and the lower portion of the pelvis to help baby finish their rotation (internal hip rotation with a posterior pelvic tilt).
The MamasteFit Birth Prep Circuit includes:
- Forward Leaning Inversion
- Back Expansion Breathing Drill
- Lat Release
- Hip Flexor Release
- All Fours Hip Shift with Pelvic Tilts
- Supported Standing Hip Shift
I have been incorporating the birth prep circuit into my prenatal workout warm-ups! We include it as a part of the warm-up routine in our prenatal programming starting week 20.
This video walks you through the entire birth prep circuit with exercise demonstrations! You can also sign up for our newsletter to grab the free PDF guide with pictures, written instructions, and links to specific exercise demo videos.
Hip and Thoracic Mobility: Move the Entire Spine for Birth Prep
Next, I usually incorporate a few full-body mobility exercises either as a part of my warm-up or as a part of my cool-down. These mobility exercises target the thoracic spine, hips, and pelvic floor! You can watch this workout video for a walk-through of the exercises with the opportunity to follow along!
All Fours Hip Shift with Pelvic Tilts
The all-fours hip shift is included in the MamasteFit Birth Prep circuit, but if you aren’t doing the entire circuit is still worth incorporating for full body mobility and pelvic floor release.
In this exercise, you are shifting your weight towards the elevated hip to bring that hip into internal pelvic rotation. This will stretch the posterior pelvic floor on that side while stretching the anterior pelvic floor of the lower hip–so there is a diagonal stretch happening in the pelvic floor in this position!
Then you can move through pelvic tilts for spinal mobility!
90/90 Side Camel
Next, I have been loving the 90/90 side camel. This full-body mobility exercise has the hips in an asymmetrical position–one hip is in external hip rotation, and the other in internal hip rotation. Then we can add in lateral thoracic mobility with a side body opener. In this exercise, you finish by extending the hips for a hip flexor stretch (which I find also stretches my round ligaments).
I do about ten reps on one side, then repeat on the other side. I will sometimes spend more time with my right hip in external rotation, and my left hip in internal rotation because this side tends to be more restricted for me, which may also be the same for you. So, pay attention as you move through this which side feels easier to flow through than the other.
Adductor Rock Back with Thoracic Mobility
The final full-body mobility exercise I tend to incorporate is the adductor rock back with thoracic rotation. This exercise stretches the inner thigh, and you can add rotation away from the stretched leg for thoracic mobility.
I tend to have a tighter right inner thigh than my leg (and likely similar for you), so pay attention to which side feels easier or more restricted to move through.
Birth Preparation Strength Exercises
After mobility, I move into strengthening exercises. Our muscles only can PULL not push–so if we want to change our pelvic position to open it more, we need the supporting muscles to PULL the pelvis open. Mobility is great to release the tension so it is then easier to PULL into positions, but we must complement that mobility with strengthening exercises.
In this circuit, we are primarily focusing on the midpelvis–but movement patterns that open the midpelvis also tend to open the top and bottom of the pelvis.
The midpelvis has two levels, the upper and lower midpelvis, and each opens with one-sided:
- Upper: external hip rotation with abduction (open hip positions)
- This also opens the top of the pelvis if you find this in both legs
- Lower: internal hip rotation with adduction (closed hip positions, hip shifts)
- This also opens the bottom of the pelvis if you find this in both legs
Staggered Stance RDL
The staggered stance RDL strengthens the hamstrings and adductor muscles. These muscles are important for pulling the pelvis into internal hip and pelvic rotation. This creates more space in the lower midpelvis!
The lower midpelvis is an area that tends to be the narrowest/tightest space and also is where a baby may get “stuck” after a long labor or pushing phase. So, we must be able to create this space for birth!
In the RDL, you will hold a weight in the opposite hand of the forward leg. Then lower the weight as if you were reaching for the outside of the forward foot (it may not touch there) to bring a rotation to your upper body and hips.
Your belly should press into your thigh (comfortably) as you rotate your hips.
Keep weight in the big toe and knee stacked over the ankle to feel more of the hamstring and adductor strengthening too!
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!
- Prenatal Yoga Classes:
- If you want prenatal yoga, join our prenatal yoga program! This also syncs to your current trimester.
Lateral Weighted Hip Shifts
Next, we have lateral weighted hip shifts. In this exercise, we are shifting from an open to a closed hip position–so it is both an upper and lower midpelvis opener.
Spread the legs out just a bit wider than the hip distance. Reach for the floor as you rotate the torso towards the bent leg. This will bring you into a hip shift (internal pelvic rotation) and a closed hip position toward the bent leg.
Then switch hands as you shift towards the opposite leg.
Archer Row and Press
The final exercise is one of my new favorites, the archer row and press. In this exercise, we are using the rotation of the upper body (similar to the previous exercises) to help us find more rotation in the hips.
In the archer row, you will be rowing the band back as you shift into the same side hip. Find more of a crunch in the side body of the rowing arm. Make sure you are reaching forward with the opposite arm to help you rotate in the torso.
In the archer press, you will be pressing the band forward as you reach for the opposite side and shift into the opposite hip. Find length in the pressing side as you crunch in the opposite side.
In both of these movements, we are finding a hip shift that stretches the posterior pelvic floor and creates more space in the lower pelvis.
When we are doing movement, we do not move in isolation, so movement in one place of our body impacts movement in other places–so the rotation in our upper body helps us rotate more in the hips = more opening of the pelvis!
Prepare for Your Birth with Movement!
There is a lot when it comes to birth preparation. You have to figure out where to give birth, develop your birth plan, choose your birth team… then add on the exercises and more! It can get overwhelming at times.
We hope to offer you support with both our free and paid content so you can feel less overwhelmed with your birth prep!
Birth Preparation Courses
Learn the science of pregnancy and birth to take the mystery of labor away! Understand why you are feeling what you feel, and learn strategies to confidently move through pregnancy and birth!
- 9h+ of Video
- Support Group
- Close Captioning
- 5 Workouts/Week
- Gym Workouts
- Self-Paced
Instructor
GINA
Workout on-demand with our prenatal fitness workout videos! Each workout is 30-40 minutes to follow along as you exercise at the same time!
- Birth Prep
- All Trimesters
- Mobility Work
Instructor
GINA
Find comfort and relief from pelvic girdle pain throughout your pregnancy and postpartum period! This program incorporates myofascial sling focused exercises to stabilize across the pelvic girdle joints.
- 3 Weeks
- On Demand Workout Videos to Follow