Yoga to Prepare for Birth

So you've hired a doula (yay!), signed yourself and your partner up for a childbirth education series, registered for baby essentials, and you've been eating a healthy and varied diet to nourish your growing child.  What else can you do to prepare your body to give birth?  Don't shy away from prenatal exercise.  You may be tired, sore, and maybe nauseous, but sitting on the couch will not help your symptoms and will probably just bring them more into focus.  Talk to your healthcare provider about what types of exercise are safe for your pregnancy (some moms have risk factors that prevent certain types of exercise).  In most healthy pregnancies two of the most beneficial and enjoyable exercise options are walking and yoga.

Prenatal yoga is designed with the safety of pregnant moms in mind and is usually tailored to which trimester you are in.  It is never too early (or late) to begin incorporating yoga into your pregnancy.  Yoga prepares your body for birth in a number of ways.  It strengthens and lengthens your muscles, making you more flexible and lithe.  Yoga also helps position your baby properly for birth and relieves many common pregnancy complaints such as low back ache and sciatica.  Yoga practice can also aid in proper digestion, eliminating toxins from the body, and poses such as squatting help prepare the pelvic floor muscles for birth.

Yoga teaches deep abdominal breathing which is wonderful for labor!  Deep breathing halts the body's 'fight or flight' response, which is a response triggered by your sympathetic nervous system during times of stress, fear, or excitement.  The fight or flight response releases catecholamines (adrenaline and noradrenaline) into your blood stream and is one of the most common causes of labor dystocia (or stalled labor).  For animals in the wild this response is necessary so that a laboring mom can flee to safety before birth is imminent.  Unfortunately this response can be triggered in humans, even in a safe environment, when we are faced with unfamiliar surroundings during labor, negative attitudes from care providers, or any stress or fear relating to the birth.  During labor we need to relax, find a rhythm, and give ourselves over to the process.  Fear and tension cause unnecessary pain during labor and can be remedied by relaxation techniques, one of which is the deep, abdominal breathing that yoga will teach you.

There are many wonderful prenatal yoga DVD's available for purchase.  But if you're looking for something basic and don't have a DVD purchase in your baby budget YogaDownload.com publishes a good, basic prenatal yoga class on YouTube, which is 25 minutes long and incorporates information about preparing for birth.  You can view it below.




Jacksonville, NC (and surrounding area) residents, some local yoga resources are listed below:

Pre and Post-natal Yoga and

Resistance Training Sponsored by

the Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune

http://www.mccslejeune.com/

groupexercise/index.html

910-451-3712

Pre-natal Workout and Yoga Marine

Corps Air Station New River Gym

910-449-6003

Corporate Wellness & Yoga
200 Valencia Drive, 
Jacksonville, NC 28546 
(910) 353-6350

Onslow Fitness

1140 Henderson Drive, Jacksonville,

North Carolina - (910) 455-7274

Courts Plus

104 N Marine Blvd, Jacksonville -

(910) 346-3446

Gold's Gym

www.goldsgym.com - 4126

Henderson Drive, Jacksonville

(910) 347-8880  ‎

Wilmington Yoga Center

5329 Oleander Drive, Suite 200

Wilmington, NC 28403

Beside Cinema 6

910-350-0234

info@wilmingtonyogacenter.com

Natural Childbirth of Twins and Triplets

I was reminded of this video when chatting with a client who is expecting twins the other day.  It is a beautiful and empowering video whether you are about to be a mom of multiples or not, everyone should watch!  Aren't our bodies amazing?

Pregnancy Cravings: What Your Body Might Be Telling You

During pregnancy most women find that they have changes in appetite as well as an increase in appetite. Some favorite foods may become unpalatable while the mother may crave foods that she used to avoid. Sometimes nausea during the first trimester (and occasionally beyond) may stifle an increased appetite. Although, in all three of my own pregnancies eating is what quells my nausea, so I am always snacking!

“During pregnancy, alterations in the balance of oestrogen, progesterone, glucagon and insulin contribute to the changes in food intake” (Stables & Rankin, 2010, p. 299). There is some evidence that a vitamin or mineral deficiency may steer you towards certain food choices. For example dairy in the case of a calcium deficiency, citrus when vitamin C is needed, or for a friend of mine who was a strict vegetarian she found herself craving fish for the first time in her life, possibly because of an increased need for protein. With certain cravings what you want may actually indicate a need for something unexpected, for example some professionals believe that craving ice actually means your body needs iron (Huber, 2006)! Another type of craving, called pica, is a craving for a non-food substance with little or no nutritional value (American Pregnancy Association, 2011). There is some evidence to suggest that pica cravings are also related to an iron deficiency (American Pregnancy Association, 2011). A sweet tooth may be your body’s way of telling you that your blood sugar is low (Briffa, 2000), but that doesn’t mean you need to go eat candy, cakes, or other sweets empty of nutritional value. Rather this is an indication that you need to eat more frequent, healthy, well-balanced meals.

During pregnancy, the best way to satisfy increased appetite and cravings is to have a healthy, varied diet. Eat several well-balanced meals every day which include plenty of vegetables, fruit, protein, dairy (if tolerable), and complex carbohydrates. My midwife calls this a “rainbow plate” because your meals should be multicolored. Having pregnancy-healthy snack foods on hand is also a good idea, and of course drinking plenty of water. I don’t think there is any reason not to give into cravings as long as they are healthy cravings and your diet is still varied. It is important to learn to listen to your body, and that includes attention to appetite and food cravings. I do believe it is a good idea to take a high quality prenatal vitamin supplement, but you shouldn’t let the supplement be an excuse to have a diet lacking in essential nutrients.

References

American Pregnancy Association. (2011). Pregnancy and pics: non-food cravings.

Retrieved May 18, 2011 from http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/unusualcravingspica.html

Briffa, J. (2000). Understanding food cravings.

Retrieved May 18, 2011 from http://www.drbriffa.com/2000/11/07/understanding-food-cravings/

Huber, C. (2006). Food cravings.

Retrieved May 18, 2011 from http://www.naturopathyworks.com/pages/cravings.php

Stables, D. & Rankin, J. (2010). Physiology in Childbearing with Anatomy and Related Biosciences. (3rd ed.). Edinburgh: Elsevier Limited