Written by

Gina Conley, MS

March 4, 2024

Pelvic Opening Mobility Exercises: More Than Just Squats for Birth Readiness

Birth Preparation, Pelvic Floor, Prenatal

There is no one movement that opens the ENTIRE pelvis–so those deep squats that are highly promoted as the “best” pelvic opening exercise… may not be as beneficial for your birth prep as you think!

Deep squats can still be a useful part of preparing your pelvis for birth… but its only one piece of the puzzle.

There are three pelvic levels that each open in a different way–wide knees only opens the TOP of the pelvis. The three pelvic levels are:

Inlet: the top of the pelvis that opens more with wide knees, external hip rotation, and a posterior pelvic tilt (rounding in the back). An anterior pelvic tilt (arching in the back) can change the pubic bone angle to make it easier for baby to slide into the pelvis, but does not necessarily increase the pelvic diameter of the inlet.
Midpelvis: the middle of the pelvis opens more with asymmetrical movements, where one leg is in external rotation and the other is in internal rotation.
Outlet: the bottom of the pelvis opens more with knees in, ankles out (internal hip rotation), which is the opposite of the top of the pelvis!

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A post shared by Gina, MS, & Roxanne, RN, BSN (@mamastefit)

As you can see, there are different movement patterns that open each pelvic level. While there are some similarities between each level, there is no one movement pattern that opens the pelvis in its entirety.

What does this mean? As you are preparing for birth, you need to incorpate several movement patterns to ensure you have the movement capability to open each pelvic level.

And here’s the catch… a lot of us favor more extension (arched back) and external hip rotation (wider knees) during pregnancy. So, some movement patterns may be more challenging to find during pregnancy, such as a rounded back and internal hip rotation.

Let’s explore several exercises you can do to prepare for birth, and create more space in all three pelvic levels.

1) Open the TOP of the Pelvis: Inlet Opening Exercises

The top of the pelvis, the pelvic inlet, opens more with external hip rotation (knees out, ankles in), wide knees, and a rounded back (posterior pelvic tilt).

An anterior pelvic tilt (arched back) can influence an increase in space in the top of the pelvis, not because an anterior tilt changes the pelvic diameter but because external rotation is EASIER with an anterior pelvic tilt–so tilting the pelvis forward can make it easier for you to create space in the top of your pelvis.

So, what can you do to prep to open the top of the pelvis?

Here is where the deep squat movements CAN be beneficial as a part of your birth preparation.

However, if you recall, external hip rotation tends to be much easier to find during pregnancy, while a posterior pelvic tilt is much harder to find in pregnancy. It can still be helpful to do deep squat and wide knee exercises as a part of birth prep, BUT we also want to focus on ensuring we can find this more rounded position.

Our birth prep circuit can be a great option to incorporate a few times a week into your workout routine to help you more easily find a posterior position to create space in the top of the pelvis.

The MamasteFit Birth Prep Circuit is a series of exercises that targets this problem, and helps to improve your mobility by helping you find a posterior pelvic tilt and internal hip rotation. You can grab a free copy of our circuit (with videos) by signing up for our newsletter below!

If you’re looking for more on what exercises you can do to prep to open the TOP of your pelvis to help your baby ENTER the pelvis, try this 12-mitue birth prep workout!

We release 1-2 new workout videos a week on our YouTube channel plus educational content if you want longer, more in-depth content! Subscribe to our channel to get notified when we release new videos (and your subscription helps our channel grow and reach more people).

Want more?? Join our prenatal and postnatal fitness programs! We program pelvic opening exercises in each of our prenatal workouts, so you don’t have to guess at what to do! We have combined our experience as perinatal fitness trainers and birth workers to develop a prenatal program that not only supports a strong pregnancy, but also prepares you for birth!

Our prenatal and postnatal fitness programs are offered in two formats:

Teambuildr App: list of exercises with demo videos with options to track your weights and progress within the app!
On-Demand Videos: full length workout videos you follow as you workout at the same time

2) Open the MIDDLE of the Pelvis: Midpelvis Opening Exercises

The middle of the pelvis, the midpelvis, is where your baby rotates from the top to the bottom of the pelvis. This pelvic level opens more with asymmetrical movement–so one leg is doing something different than the other, such as one leg is externally rotated, while the other is in internal rotation. This could also include swaying side to side or shifting weight from side to side.

Then to make it a little mor e complex, the midpelvis can be divided into two levels: the upper and lower.

The upper midpelvis is where your baby begins their rotation, and opens more with open hip positions, or external rotation on one side.

The lower midpelvis is where your baby finishes their rotation under the pubic bone, and opens more with closed hip positions, or internal rotation on one side. This is usually the leg that we shift our weight into, or our stance leg.

Check out these two exercises that target the upper (the 90/90 side camel) and the lower midpelvis (all fours hip shift with pelvic tilts). Explore how each of these movements feels different, and how it may create a different type of space in the midpelvis.

The 90/90 side camel is a midpelvis opening exercise where one leg is in external rotation, and the other is in internal rotation. In this exercise, you can add in a side body opener that helps you move deeper into hip rotation, and then a hip extension to release tension in the hip flexor.

This exercise can target both the upper and lower midpelvis, but I find tends to focus more on the upper portion more than the lower midpelvis.

Thank you for all your great programming!! I just had my second kiddo! First one was medical induction with pitocin and ended up getting an epidural. That birth was quite quick and intense going from 4cm to ready to push in 3 hours, but then pushed for 3 hours. This one was also a medical induction, but I was basically in early labor when I was admitted. Was able to stay off pitocin! Had my water broken for me to help progress labor. Took about an hour and some breast pump usage to get things really going but once they did - woof! Went from 4cm to baby in 1.75 hours! The whole time I kept flashing to your content - keep your jaw loose, breathe, sway your hips in whatever way feels good, knees in feet out at the end. Did half the labor standing and swaying, part in the warm tub, and then moved to an all fours position in the bed. My midwife then suggested using the squat bar to lean and push on. Boy oh boy did that work! 2 pushes hanging on that and he was here! So again thank you both for all the information you share through your paid programs, and free content. Everyone I know who works in the birth world or is having a baby I suggest you to them!!

MamsteFit’s Prenatal Fitness Course made me feel strong and ready for birth! During pregnancy I knew I wanted to support my body in the best way possible for birth. As someone who didn’t typically do as many strength focused workouts, I wanted something I could do from home that was easy to follow. All the workouts in this course made that possible. The demo videos are great for showing how to do the movements and how to modify them. I never felt like I couldn’t do the entire workout at home. I felt stronger as my pregnancy progressed! I appreciated knowing that the movements I was doing were helping me to prepare for birth and beyond. I liked the structure of the workouts and knowing what the focus of the day was. Understanding breathing and taking the time to do that for each workout was helpful. As we moved in to the later stages of pregnancy, the partner workouts were awesome! We liked practicing labor positions and finding what worked for me in a calm manner instead of panicking during actual labor. This helped us to know what my go to positions and counter pressure options would be for labor. I felt the strongest I have going into birth and believe this helped me have a smoother recovery!!

I also wanted to say thank you for the amazing Beyond Program. I used MamasteFit in my 3rd trimester for my last pregnancy (with twins) and then the 16 week postpartum program following. I feel like I should share I was [following another prenatal/postpartum fitness program] was boring and still only focused on the same basic strength movements, that left me feeling so stiff and lacked dynamic movement. During my third trimester with my twins and using your prenatal program, I literally felt my pelvis open and relax, and I was able to have relatively short vaginal birth. After I finished your postpartum program I tried [other online fitness programs] but couldn't keep up with either and ended up injurying my back in the process. This summer when I started the Beyond program, I could barely squat a barbell, and now after 4 months, I am able to backs quat heavier weight again and pain free!! I was so scared to get pregnant again knowing what pain I was in before being pregnant, what would that look like once I was pregnant again?? Your beyond program really helped me gain strength and stability, and honestly feel like myself again. Thank you so much for this amazing resource. I love all of your content!

Next, you can incorporate hip shifted exercises to target the lower midpelvis. If you recall from earlier in this blog, internal hip rotation can be harder to find during pregnancy since we tend to favor external rotation. Hip shifted exercises are important for hip stability, pelvic floor function, and birth preparation–so learning how to shift your weight into one hip is vital!

In the all-fours hip shift, you’ll shift your weight towards the elevated hip–this hip will be in an internally rotation position as the stance leg. This exercise also helps to release tension in the posterior pelvic floor–which for many of us is tighter!

You can move deeper into this exercise with some external feedback such as pressing the lower knee into a wall OR using a mini-band, as described in this breakdown YouTube video.

3) Open the BOTTOM of the pelvis: Outlet Opening Exercises

The bottom of the pelvis opens more with internal hip rotation (knees in, ankles out). Internal rotation is easier to do with a slight posterior pelvic tilt, so the ability to round the back is important for the outlet, as well as the inlet! A posterior pelvic tilt does not change the pelvic diameter, but since it positively impacts internal rotation, can help with creating space in the outlet.

The MamasteFit Birth Prep circuit includes several exercises that help with finding internal rotation, since it is a movement pattern that is more challenging to find as pregnancy progresses! You can grab the free guide here.

But, what exercises can you do to prep to open the pelvic outlet besides what is in the birth prep circuit?

First, we include a ton in our online prenatal fitness program since internal rotation is usually less accessible–so we program it daily in our workouts to make the movement pattern more familiar for you.

Second, check out this pushing prep workout video–it includes three exercises that can create more space in the BOTTOM of the pelvis!

Prepare For Birth: Go Beyond Deep Squats and Butterfly Pose!

There is no one movement that opens the ENTIRE pelvis–deep squats can be a helpful component of your birth preparation, but they are not the ONLY exercise should be doing.

Each pelvic level opens with different types of movement patterns–the top opens more with wide knees, while the bottom opens more with knees in. It is important that you include movements in your daily workouts that support you finding all sorts of different types of hip movements!