Exercise in pregnancy experts are helping women to prepare their bodies for pregnancy and birth.
Pilates Instructor and Nutritionist, Lisa Hutson and Yoga Teacher, Pam Medhurst have designed an holistic service to help women to be in the best possible shape to carry, deliver and physically care for their baby when it arrives.
Lisa Hutson explains: “Staying active and getting good quality rest is the best foundation for a healthy pregnancy. The prenatal classes at Pilates Avenue help women to get in touch with their body to build strength, improve flexibility and aid rest.
“These benefits can help promote mental and physical relaxation, ease pregnancy symptoms and create a positive mindset, all of which help women to adapt to the changes that occur during pregnancy.
“The sessions include breathing exercises to help relax during pregnancy and to aid the birth itself.”
Pam Medhurst is well-known in East Yorkshire, having worked with hundreds of pregnant women over the last 8 years. She explains: “Exercise reduces stress, releases endorphins and can even make labour easier.
“I have worked with mums for many years to safely exercise before, during and after pregnancy. Lisa and I have so much experience between us and we wanted to help prevent mums from experiencing any issues.
“An example of this for some women is diastasis recti, which causes the lower abdominal muscles to remain open, creating a dome effect. Pilates and Yoga brings awareness to the transverse abdominis muscles and can knit them back together.
“Approximately two-thirds of pregnant women can be affected by diastasis recti and while most can expect the muscles to knit back together by the time the baby is around 8 weeks old, others who notice a dome on their lower abdomen beyond this stage, may need some help to repair the muscles. Our sessions can help at this stage too.
“Also, working on the pelvic floor during pregnancy can help to prevent issues once the baby is born. Pilates and other movement will help to support a healthy pregnancy and birth, the sessions end with a meditation to support an awesome night’s sleep.”
The classes are at Pilates Avenue on Princes Avenue in Hull. To find out about the class timetable, please call 07952 489027 or search for Pilates Avenue on Facebook.