An active pregnancy
During pregnancy, it is advised that we stay as active as possible. Staying active is thought to encourage babies to move themselves into an ‘optimal foetal position’ in preparation for birth.
However, due to COVID, it is increasingly common for mums-to-be to be working from home. Even if you have an office based job, before COVID you would have walked to the car, from the car to the office and then to your desk. During the day you may have gone to get a drink, have lunch, gone to the shops, or attend a meeting before walking back to the car to drive home. When these small amounts of movement are added together, you probably spent at least an hour moving about. Is this the same now you are working from home?
I know that this is a concern for many and I have listed 5 tips below to try and help you to get some movement back into your day.
Invest in a birth ball to replace your office chair.
Birth balls are fantastic for helping you to sit with better posture (it’s hard to slouch on a birth ball). Without consciously choosing to do so, you may find yourself gently bouncing or moving your hips. Sitting in a chair for long periods causes our hips to stiffen, the exact opposite of what we need when preparing for labour. Before you throw out your chair, I advise you to introduce your ball slowly. Start with 5 minutes in the morning and afternoon, slowly increasing the amount of time and frequency over the coming days and weeks.
If you have stairs, walk up and down them as often as you can.
If you work upstairs, use the toilet downstairs and vice versa. Try to avoid setting yourself up for the day with drinks and snacks. Instead, force yourself to go downstairs to get a drink or something to eat.
Set a reminder on your phone to stand up and stretch.
Aim to do this every hour, but if your calendar doesn’t allow, try at least twice in the morning and afternoon. If you’re not sure what stretches to do or which are safe during pregnancy there is a sample 20 minute sequence on my website or come and join me for one of my 30 minute lunchtime sessions.
Go for a walk - every day!
Block out a time in your diary for a daily walk. Even if it’s just for 15 minutes around the block, or to the local shop and back. Fresh air is linked to good mental health so this is a double bonus. If it’s raining and you really don’t want to leave the house, use that time to do 15 minutes of stretching or yoga instead.
Add some ‘at your desk’ chair/birth ball stretches into your day.
If you know you are in a long meeting where you won’t need to be on video, have some stretches ready that you can be doing while you are listening. In each of my 6 week yoga blocks I include one chair session and one birth ball session, giving you lots of ideas.
If you would like to find out more or are interested in joining my weekly pregnancy yoga classes (either live and online or at Flow For All Yoga in Norton, Malton), please don’t hesitate to contact me at: jessevansyoga@gmail.com or find me on Facebook and Instagram @jessevansyoga
