Pilates and Pregnancy – Week 33: Hip-Opening Exercises to prepare for Labor & Delivery

Welcome back to our Pilates and Pregnancy blog! This week the baby is around 4.6 lbs, the size of a honey dew melon when curled up in the fetal position, and 19-20 inches long.

I have been feeling well for the most part, but have noticed increased swelling in my hands, calves, ankles, and feet. To combat the swelling, I am drinking lots of water and trying to move and stretch where I feel tight. For example, before I get out of bed in the morning I do circles with my wrists and ankles to increase circulation.

This week, Carey started me out working on the Chair.   The Pilates Chair is so great for pregnant women! A good portion of the work on the Chair can be done in either seated, side-lying, or standing positions, thus eliminating lying on your belly or back.

My sessions have definitely been more focused on hip opening lately which I’m hoping will facilitate the birthing process!

This week we used a split-pedal Chair with the pedal split, which means that it’s more work to coordinate the movements of your right and left sides of the body .

We started with seated Footwork in a wide turnout position. The work is to try and push just as much with your right leg as you do with your left, which is harder than it sounds! Since my left side has felt tighter throughout the entire pregnancy, I could tell right away that it didn’t want to push down as far as my right.

We moved to the Tower next and did Front Push Through with my legs wide, draping off the sides of the mat.  This version modifies the stretch so that you feel it more in your hips. It also allows you to stretch further forward when you have a belly in the way than you could if your feet were not dropped down.

Finally, we did a fun version of Russian Squats on the floor Tower. Instead of standing on the mat, Carey had me take my feet to the floor beside the mat . The combination of taking my legs wider and standing a few inches lower than normal made it easier to squat deeply and feel a nice hip-opening stretch.

We’ll see you next week!

-Cassie