Before you perform yoga for pregnancy and birth, you should observe various pointers to keep the entire session safe for you. If you are prone to vaginal bleeding, you are not advised to have yoga for pregnancy and birth. This is because the physical activities that you have to perform in yoga for pregnancy and birth will induce your cervix to have premature dilatations. These dilatations are highly probable if you have an incompetent cervix.
Some tips in performing Yoga for Pregnancy and Birth
- Another absolute contraindication when performing yoga for pregnancy and birth is a past incidence of a placenta previa. Placenta previa is a condition that predisposes the uterus to be behind the placenta. This is a dangerous condition because the placenta may be detached even before the child is born. On a normal basis, the placenta is usually expelled after the child has been born. Other absolute contraindications that must be noted before performing yoga for pregnancy and birth are the presence of (1) hypertension or maternal diabetes; (2) maternal heart disease; (3) retardation of intrauterine growth; (4) previous incidences of premature labor; and (5) membrane rupture.
- It is not advisable for you to immediately start with the routines of yoga for pregnancy and birth. Experts have proposed a “proper sequence” of activities to promote the positive effects of yoga for pregnancy and birth. A recommended preparatory activity in yoga for pregnancy and birth is the warm up phase. Generally, this phase is composed of rhythmic movements that are composed of calisthenic exercises. This is usually followed by gentle stretching. However, you should be highly cautious in performing this phase of yoga for pregnancy and birth because pregnant women usually have hypermobile joints and ligaments. Because these structures are more flexible than normal, they are more predisposed to mechanical injury that may occur while you are performing routines in yoga for pregnancy and birth.
- After the warm up phase, the session of yoga for pregnancy and birth may be followed by an aerobic activity. The recommended duration is around 15 minutes or less. This phase typically consists of various cardiovasular system conditioning exercises to promote better circulation of the blood and lymph fluid around the body systems.
- After this activity under yoga for pregnancy and birth, experts recommend the provision of strengthening exercises for the upper extremities and lower extremities. These exercises in yoga for pregnancy and birth should be done to promote the reinforcement of various parts of the body. This is important because the joints and ligaments cannot give much support on the structures that they are supposed to reinforce. Aside from this, this phase of yoga for pregnancy and birth can also help in addressing some of the problems that you may be encountering. Some of these problems are low back pain and diastasis recti.
These activities in yoga for pregnancy and birth are followed by cool down activities. These activities are done to aid in flushing out the harmful toxins that have accumulated during the entire course of the exercise session. In addition to this phase, abdominal exercises, pelvic floor exercises, and relaxation exercises may be added.