Being pregnant during a pandemic was both stressful & restricting. Taking time out to go & connect with my baby, stretch & really focus on my breathing allowed me to relax & release the tension of being an NHS worker. It also relieved the discomfort felt around my hips towards the end of pregnancy. I felt both mentally & physically better after exercising as walking for long periods became uncomfortable.
During the sessions we closed our eyes & imagined our babies & what they would be like & look like. As this was my second pregnancy I always imagined my baby to look identical to her older sister. Strangely, in the final 3 weeks when carrying out this exercise, I started to imagine a baby with lots of dark hair - the total opposite to my first born. When Nancy was born, she did have an abundance of dark hair!
In the final trimester of pregnancy up until 34 weeks our beautiful baby was breech. Yoga allowed me to understand positions which would allow for baby to turn into an ideal birthing position & gave me the focus to practice these in a relaxed and enjoyable way. Thankfully, Nancy did turn prior to discussing plans for c-section & it could well have been due to yoga. I was overjoyed that I managed to have a natural birth with baby in an ideal position as this was not the case with my first baby.
I did not commit to yoga the first time around & my first daughter, Violet had her head in a difficult position when I went into labour. This resulted in us having to attend an operating theatre for emergency assistance with delivery. This time around everything was so much calmer & I actually really enjoyed the experience. I have exclusively breastfed since birth which is still ongoing, as my daughter is 4 months old. As I had the privilege of a water birth on all fours, swaying as we did in class I was able to breastfeed 10 minutes after giving birth. Nancy was ready for a feed & stayed latched for around 45 mins.
I would definitely recommend pregnancy yoga for all of the above reasons. In addition, it was so lovely to meet a group of like minded individuals who all wanted to support one another. We shared experiences & advice & I looked forward to class each week!
“Tessa Clemson Yoga - your yoga studio in Great Harwood, serving Hyndburn, Blackburn with Darwen, Ribble Valley & Burnley”
Comments