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Written by

Casey Backus, MPT, E-RYT 500

Yoga in Pregnancy & Postpartum: Is it Safe?

  • Fitness

A lot of people wonder whether practicing yoga in pregnancy and postpartum is safe for you and your baby…

“I LOVE Yoga but don’t want to hurt myself or my baby”

It is estimated that ~300 million people are practicing yoga worldwide. With approximately 214 million pregnancies worldwide, it’s safe to assume that at least some pregnant women are practicing or desire to practice yoga.

Yoga in pregnancy is beneficial for you and your baby, no doubt about that. How do we safely incorporate yoga into pregnancy and postpartum?

Yoga In Pregnancy & Postpartum: Benefits and Modifications

yoga in pregnancy

The mental health benefits of yoga have been well documented. Yoga when guided and performed intentionally can also offer significant physical benefits to include:

  • flexibility
  • strength
  • pelvic floor mobility
  • breathing strategies.

To venture safely into Yoga in pregnancy, it makes sense to examine any potential risks and identify modifications.

What is safe yoga in pregnancy and what concerns actually spawned such debates?

A few of the big debates related to yoga in pregnancy surround:

  • Twists
  • Inversions
  • Prone or belly down poses. 

Twists

Certain poses combine a flexed spine with twisting such as prayer twist in lunge or chair. We do avoid such belly compression with twisting motions largely because it feels uncomfortable but also because belly compression is not advised in 2nd/3rd trimester.

Modification: These poses can be easily modified to avoid compression but maintain spinal twisting. Revolved lunge or supine twist are appropriate substitutes

Inversions

Any time the head is down and the hips are elevated; While remaining inverted for an extended period of time is not indicated for people with elevated blood pressure, most inversions can be attempted safely. Downward facing dog is perhaps the most common example of a yoga inversion. Others include handstand, headstand, and forearm stand. While some skilled practitioners might choose to continue with handstand throughout pregnancy, the body’s changing center of gravity and hormone relaxin add a degree of risk. In my own teaching of prenatal yoga, I have opted to omit poses like headstand that bear weight on the cervical spine.

 

Modifications/Substitutions: Avoiding all inverted poses is rarely indicated. Downdog and dolphin are great substitutions for handstands and headstands. They offer relief to the pelvic floor as the pelvic and abdominal organs move up toward the diaphragm. These poses are great for birth prep and baby positioning. Spinning Babies coined the term forward leaning inversion which offers an incredible amount of pelvic relief in the 2nd and 3rd trimester.

Prone (Belly down poses)

Poses like sphinx, cobra, and floor bow are not comfortable or indicated late 1st trimester through the remainder of pregnancy because of the compression on the abdomen. These poses focus on breath control and spinal extensor strengthening and can be easily modified or substituted.

Modification/Substitution: Table with alternating arm and leg lift, cat- cow, Table with diagonal bow

Conclusion

Yoga is a movement practice that invites us all to TUNE BACK IN. All poses can be safely modified or substituted when doing yoga in pregnancy so that we can use this exceptionally healing practice to support our motherhood journey.

The practice of mindful breath, connecting inward with our own heartbeat (and baby’s), and moving into shapes that evoke sensation without holding our breath can be invaluable as we prepare for labor, birth, and the postpartum.

Looking for more guidance on integrating yoga in your prenatal/postpartum journey? 

Join us Tuesday March 7th 7:30-9pm EST for our Introduction to Prenatal Yoga and Pose Modifications Webinar.

We’ll introduce the basics and modifications to help you feel confident incorporating yoga into your movement practice.

Already love yoga but looking for prenatal classes? Click to access our Prenatal On Demand library where I’ll guide you through ~20 minute classes designed to support the body’s changing needs by trimester!

Looking forward to connecting with you soon!

Prenatal Yoga On Demand Classes

Join us for on-demand prenatal yoga classes specific to each trimester!

  • 20-30 minute long on-demand yoga classes
  • Trimester Specific Classes
  • Pelvic Opening Yoga Flows: Prepare for Birth!
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