Many families that choose to birth with Tourmaline are dedicated to healthy lifestyles. We eat healthy, exercise, and understand the importance of an active well-balanced life. Many families are dedicated to fitness and wellness. Whether it’s CrossFit or Pilates, weight training at Performance 360 or the local Glute Lab. We understand that this is a big part of peoples’ lives, identities, and community.
As midwives we know these exercise programs are often counterintuitive to the physiological processes in pregnancy. Pregnancy is a time of opening and softening. We know there are tons of pregnant fitness enthusiasts on instagram, running marathons, and deadlifting. This is not in line with a balanced understanding of the pregnant body. The human body is amazing; but just because the body can do it doesn’t mean it is meant too! These exercises are not intended for pregnant bodies or designed to facilitate vaginal births. Birthing people who do heavy lifting and weight training during pregnancy can have hypertonic musculature in the pelvic floor.
Our pregnant bodies are secreting the hormone relaxin to soften and elongate our muscles in pregnancy. The elongation and elasticity can put us at an increased risk of injury. These muscles are meant to become more relaxed, open, and stretch to accommodate our growing baby. Doing heavy weight training, squats, and deadlift exercises work counterintuitively to what your body is naturally working toward in pregnancy.
What we have witnessed as Midwives is that clients who weight train and lift heavy weights have longer pushing phases and malposition babies; this can contribute to longer and dysfunctional labor patterns.
Our recommendation for our pregnant peeps that are athletes or train daily is to see a pelvic floor physical therapist. A pelvic floor physical therapist will do an internal exam and assess the musculature of the pelvis. They will offer insight into what you can do in order to bring balance to the pelvic floor. It’s actually training your body and pelvis for vaginal birth with biofeedback!!
Shifting our fitness goals and our physical appearance (a growing belly, thighs, and breasts) can be challenging. We encourage you to embrace your beautiful, pregnant body and also speak openly about any feelings that come up for you with your midwives. You will not be pregnant forever, and there will always be time to go back to doing the exercises that you love.
