When we think of birth preparation exercises, we may think do lots of squats. There is this belief that wide knees with deep hip flexion opens the pelvis more.
Think of the common pelvic floor relaxation exercises that you may see on social media– lots of deep squats and butterfly poses with wide knees.
When you’re thinking of labor, you may think deep squats holding onto your partners hands. And pushing, you probably think super wide knees to open the pelvis.
BUT spoiler alert, wide knees does NOT open the ENTIRE pelvis. It only opens the top.
Let’s explore several movements we can do during pregnancy to ACTUALLY prepare to open the ENTIRE pelvis for birth!
6 Prenatal Exercises to Prepare for Birth
Your prenatal fitness program should include:
- Strength exercises to help you stay strong throughout your pregnancy and counter the shift in center of gravity
- Pelvic stability exercises to keep you pain-free and comfortable
- Pelvic opening exercises to prepare to open each pelvic level for birth
As we prepare for birth, we want to ensure that we can open each pelvic level! There are three main pelvic levels:
- Pelvic Inlet: Top of the Pelvis
- Baby enters or engages into the pelvis in this pelvic level
- The Midpelvis: The Middle of the Pelvis
- Baby rotates through this pelvic level
- Pelvic Outlet: The Bottom of the Pelvis
- Baby extends their head under the pubic bone and is born through this pelvic level
Our prenatal workouts can include exercises that focus on the movement patterns necessary to open each pelvic level. Ensuring that we have the ability to open each pelvic level could prevent labor stalls!
Prepare to Open the Pelvic Inlet: Help Baby Engage
Starting at the top of the pelvis, the pelvic inlet opens more with:
- External rotation of the femurs, or wide knees (think squats)
- Pelvic tilting from front to back
- Posterior pelvic tilt (tucking the butt under)
- Anterior pelvic tilt (arching the back)
During pregnancy (and most times in our lives), we tend to favor a more anterior pelvic tilt with extension in the spine and external rotation. Because of this, we usually don’t need to overemphasize opening the inlet with external rotation and an anterior pelvic tilt–we are already doing it most likely.
What we do need to focus on is the posterior pelvic tilt! This can be more difficult to find during pregnancy as our lats and hip flexors/quads get much tighter/shorten.
1) Squat Therapy: Help Baby Engage into the Pelvis
Finding comfort at the bottom of a squat position can be helpful, as we prepare for birth! I know I just said that we don’t need to emphasize this because we are already finding external rotation, but we can spend time in the bottom of a squat to work on our ankle mobility and hip mobility.
Plus, we can add some thoracic rotation work which is helpful in supporting our pelvic position!
Learn more on HOW to open each pelvic level as we prepare for birth with exercises, yoga poses, and pelvic floor relaxation exercises in our prepare for birth courses This webinar will be recorded and available for download!
In squat therapy, if you need more support sit down on a yoga block or put your heels on a wedge or rolled-up towel/yoga mat. This can help if you have some discomfort at the deepest expression of this posture.
Tips:
- Drop to the bottom of a squat position
- Add necessary support, as needed
- Begin to press BOTH knees apart with your elbows for 10 repetitions
- Then press only ONE knee out, then the other for 10 reps each
- Then focus on thoracic rotations. You can either just reach towards the ceiling with one hand or press a weight overhead
- The weighted variation will help you move deeper into this posture. Keep in mind that deeper is not always better!
Watch this breakdown video for more on how to do this exercise!
2) Forward Leaning Lat Release: Open the Top of the Pelvis
Now that we have spent some time in the bottom of a squat, let’s focus on finding more of that posterior pelvic tilt. A posterior pelvic tilt moves the sacral promontory (junction between the lumbar spine and sacrum) backward, creating more space front to back in the pelvic inlet.
One reason that a posterior pelvic tilt may be difficult to find or feel restricted is that the lats (back muscles) can be tight or shorten from the common prenatal postural tendency to extend the spine (arch in the back).
If we can release the tension and stretch the lats, it will be easier to find that posterior pelvic tilt!
Try this forward leaning lat release (one of my favs) to release the backside!
Tips:
- Place two hands into a wall
- Then step the feet perpendicular to the hands to feel a stretch in the side body
- Press HARD into the hand on the stretched side
- Push the chest AWAY from the floor for more rounding
- Breathe here for 10-20 breaths then switch sides.
Watch this breakdown video for more on how to do this exercise!
3) Quad Release with Pelvic Mobility: Open the Top of the Pelvis
The other group of muscles that may be making a posterior pelvic tilt harder to achieve is the front side of the leg: the hip flexors and quads. If we can release the front side of the leg, it may be easier to find a posterior pelvic tilt and open the pelvic inlet.
An anterior pelvic tilt (arching in the back) makes external rotation easier to find and can change the pelvic angle, so being able to move the pelvis from front to back is beneficial. But for many of us, we may find that the posterior pelvic tilt is a bit challenging or feels restrictive.
In this mobility exercise, we will release the quad with a quad stretch and then move into hip-shifted pelvic tilts to focus on the release more on one side.
Tips:
- Start in a half-kneeling position
- Reach back to grab one foot and pull it towards the butt without arching in the back. Think tucking the butt under and pushing the hips forward to feel more of a stretch.
- Option to place the foot on an elevated surface such as your couch and sit back to the heel
- Hold this position for 10-20 breaths
- Come to an all-fours position with the same knee elevated on a yoga block
- Shift weight to the elevated knee
- Pelvic tilt 10-15 times, pausing at top of the round
- Repeat on other side
Watch this breakdown video for more on how to do this exercise!
If you want more of a breakdown of WHAT to do throughout your prenatal workouts, check out our prenatal fitness programs! We offer it in two formats:
- 40-Week Prenatal Strength in the Teambuildr App (traditional delivery format)
- Full Version: Wrokotus 45-75 minutes long, designed with the athlete in mind
- Mini Version: Workouts 15-20 minutes long, designed for the busy life!
- The full version can switch between the mini and full!
- Can be started at ANY time as the Teambuildr App programs sync to your current week of pregnancy with one-time or monthly payment options!
- Prenatal On-Demand with full-length workout videos that you follow along as you workout
Prepare to Open the Midpelvis: Help Baby Rotate
As baby moves through the pelvic inlet, they will then rotate through the midpelvis, or the bony structure of the pelvis. The midpelvis opens more with:
- Asymmetrical movement:
- Upper midpelvis opens more with external rotation on one side
- Lower midpelvis opens more with internal rotation on one side
In the midpelvis, the lower midpelvis is where more passage-related labor stalls may occur due to the inability to find internal rotation. Throughout pregnancy, external rotation is a common postural tendency and is usually easy to find. Because of this, we may find that there is a limitation in our ability to find internal rotation at the femur or a closed hip position.
Emphasizing internal rotation in our prenatal workouts could help prevent a late labor stall! Watch this video to see more of a breakdown of how to FEEL internal rotation.
Let’s explore three movements that incorporate internal rotation to find a full range of motion in the hip and prepare for birth.
4) Alternating Step Ups: Open the Midpelvis and Help Baby Rotate
We can use step-ups, and other single-leg movements, to find BOTH external and internal rotation in a more exaggerated way. As we do step-ups, we can find internal rotation at the bottom of the step, and external rotation at the top of the step.
Tips:
- Place one foot on the box or step up surface
- Bring belly to thigh or feel the opposite hip rotate TOWARD the forward knee
- You should feel more a stretch in the glute and hamstring of the forward leg
- Put weight into the elevated foot
- Keep the knee stacked over the ankle and more weight in the big toe side of the foot
- Exhale to stand up to the top of the box as you face forward
- Inhale to lower as you find that closed hip position again
Watch this breakdown video for more on how to do this exercise!
5) Staggered Stance RDL with Row: Open the Lower Midpelvis and Help Baby Finish Their Rotation
Next, we can emphasize more of the lower midpelvis with a hinge-focused exercise. Hinge = hips to the wall behind you, more of a hamstring-focused exercise.
As you do this movement, we want to focus on:
- Hold the band in the opposite hand of the forward leg
- Reach forward with the band as you hinge at the hips
- Rotate the opposite hip towards the forward knee, feeling more of a stretch in the hamstring and glute
- Keep weight in the big toe of the front foot and knee stacked over the ankle
- Exhale to stand up to face forward, as you row the band back to your torso
- Inhale to hinge as you reach forward with the band
Watch this breakdown video for more on how to do this exercise!
6) Standing Hip Shift: Open the Lower Midpelvis and Outlet to Release the Pelvic Floor
The final exercise that you could incorporate (and there are so many more that we include in our prenatal fitness program for each workout) to prepare for birth is the standing hip shift.
The standing hip shift is a pelvic floor release exercise. The difference with this movement compared to the traditional pelvic floor release exercises that favor wide knees is this movement favors more of the posterior pelvic floor.
The anterior pelvic floor is more stretched in wide knee positions, such as deep squats and butterfly poses. The anterior pelvic floor is usually already stretched/lengthened due to our postural tendencies. We are usually more external and extended = more stretch to the front pelvic floor.
Because our postural tendency is favoring more of a stretch of the front half of the pelvic floor, we want to focus more on the posterior half for release as we prep for birth!
Really no point in continuing to stretch an already stretched portion as the back half gets tighter and tighter.
This course explore your pelvic floor anatomy, function, and how to prepare your pelvic floor for birth! This course includes educational videos, mobility exercises, relaxation drills, and how to relax your pelvic floor during labor tips.
- 2+ hours of on-demand videos
- Immediate and lifetime of the course access
- Watch on Mobile Device
The standing hip shift focuses more on the back half of the pelvic floor since it favors more internal rotation and a posterior pelvic tilt.
Tips:
- Hold onto a sturdy structure with the opposite hand of the forward leg
- Hinge the hips back (hips to the wall behind you) as you shift your weight into the forward leg
- You should feel like your lat is stretching as you lean back into the hips
- Bring the opposite hip towards the forward knee
- Keep weight in the big toe and the knee stacked over the ankle
- Think rotate the knee INWARD without moving the foot
- You should feel a big stretch in the hamstring and glute of the focus leg
- Think push the chest away from the floor to round in the low back
Watch this breakdown video for more on how to do this exercise!
Prepare for YOUR Birth: Move Your Body
Our prenatal workouts can prepare us for birth! We want to ensure that we have the movement capability to open each pelvic level in order to prevent labor stalls related to the passage.
Remembering that there is no ONE movement that opens the ENTIRE pelvis will encourage you to MOVE throughout your entire labor, shifting into different positions to create a different type of space in your pelvis for birth.
Have your prenatal workouts do more than just keep you strong: prepare for YOUR birth with your workouts too!