Offering Prenatal Pilates in Berlin
I am finally back! I spent a wonderful summer, with family and friends and lots of time in the sunshine, and I am now back to my normal working schedule, available for Prenatal Pilates and all the other classes I offer. If you are pregnant, I can’t wait to welcome you in my studio soon!
Make sure you sign up early in pregnancy! That way you will give your body plenty of time to learn all the wonderful techniques I teach to prepare for birth and set your body up for a quick recovery after birth.
When to start Prenatal Pilates?
Ideally, you should start as soon as you learn you are pregnant. If you have already been doing Pilates with another instructor, then great! You can keep going until more the second trimester with that instructor. But after the 16th/17th week, please check that it is someone who is trained to work with pregnant women if you want to continue with them. If not, look for a specialised instructor, or a Prenatal Pilates class. Like the ones I offer!
Even if you are feeling tired and a bit nauseous in your first trimester, I really recommend starting my Prenatal Classes early in pregnancy.
My classes can be very gentle and will help with the tiredness and sickness.They will help you feel empowered to take matters into your own hands and deal with this pregnancy in the best possible way, rather than simply suffering and enduring all the pregnancy-related aches and pains most women suffer from not knowing where to turn for help.
Why are my Prenatal Pilates different?
Prenatal Pilates with me is not a fitness Pilates class. My classes will keep you fit and healthy, will keep pregnancy-related pain and discomfort at bay (hopefully), but most importantly the classes will cover the following:
– I will teach you about your pelvic floor, and how to recruit it and release it properly in preparation for birth and recovery after birth.
– I will teach you how to recruit your abdominal muscles properly during pregnancy and for recovers after birth.
-I will teach you how to breathe properly during pregnancy and for recovery from birth. We will also practice breathing techniques that you will use during labour to stay relaxed and deal with surges (contractions).
-I will also teach you other techniques to deal with surges (vocalisations, visualisations)
-As part of the support I offer I can also recommend books, resources and other practitioners you might need during pregnancy and beyond (I have a huge network of chiropractors, physios, osteopaths, doulas, postpartum doulas, lactations consultants and sleep consultants I work with – all English speakers.)
The techniques I teach can be used straight after birth for a healthy recovery of the pelvic floor and abdominals. I also offer Postnatal Pilates session, which can start straight after birth, as 30 min sessions online to coach you through the pelvic floor and ab recovery techniques.
Does this sound like your average Prenatal Pilates class? I don’t think it does – I personally didn’t find someone who includes all this in their Prenatal Pilates class when I was pregnant with my first child. I had a wonderful instructor, and she taught me a lot. But we didn’t prepare for birth and much less for recovery after birth. She helped me stay strong and flexible during pregnancy and that was it. And that’s what most Prenatal Pilates classes will offer you. My classes will prepare you for birth, physically.
The importance of preparing for birth, physically and mentally
I cannot stress enough the importance of preparing for birth. I mean, you would train for a marathon, right? Well, labour and birth is like running 20 marathons in a row – so…? YOU NEED TO BE READY FOR IT. And I would add: you need to prepare for birth, and for recovery after birth as well.
But let me start with preparation for birth. What do I mean? Don’t midwives teach that at the birth preparation workshops they offer? NO. The preparation I mean is the physical, and mental preparation.
Learn about the birth process, become aware of the physiological processes of birth, and train your body and mind to experience them in the best possible way.
To train your body for birth, I help you stretch and strengthen all of the key parts of your body – your hips, your glutes, your pelvic floor. And to train your body for recovery and looking after a newborn, I add arm work, upper back and chest strengthening and stretching exercises.
To train your mind for birth I offer guidance, and introduce you to exercises I found useful during the home birth of my second daughter. But most of the work you are going to have to do yourself, throughout your pregnancy, by practicing a little every day, reading books, learning, empowering yourself to make the right choices once the time comes.
