Most people think of Pilates as a new form of exercise because of its recent surge of popularity in the fitness and healthcare industry. In reality, Joseph Pilates invented about 80 years ago by.

Pilates was a sickly child with asthma. To help fight his illness and build his strength, he experimented with various mind-body disciplines and later became an accomplished skier, diver, gymnast, and boxer. While in internment during WWI in England, he taught fellow interns his concepts and exercises that he developed over 20 years of self-study and apprenticeship in yoga, Zen, and ancient Greek and Roman physical regimens. During this time, Pilates began devising the system of original floor exercises known today as “Pilates matwork”. Within a few years, he became a nurse to the many internees under care with wartime disease and physical injury. Here, he began devising exercise apparatuses to rehabilitate the patients by taking springs from the beds and rigging them to create spring resistance and “movement” for the bedridden. This “system” formed the foundation for his style of body conditioning used today.

In many ways, Pilates equipment today is not much different than it was back then. The use of spring tension, straps, supports for back, neck and shoulders are the same uses for the equipment today. The nature of the equipment is to both challenge and support the body as it learns to move more efficiently.

With the determination to help others achieve better health, Pilates opened his first studio in New York in 1926 where he used his exercise apparatuses and more than 500 movement therapy exercises to help rehabilitate athletes and dancers. For over 60 years this form of exercise was a well kept secret – but dancers, athletes, physical therapy patients and fitness enthusiasts have relied on this Pilates method to attain and stay in top physical form.

The benefit of Pilates’ movement therapy exercises for women thru pregnancy and post-partum is mostly misunderstood. Simply put, Pilates is a safe and effective approach to exercise for pregnant women to assist with breathing, body alignment and to recover body shape and tone after birth.

Pilates focuses on breathing, which promotes relaxation and helps activate the transversus abdominus. The transversus abdominus is the deepest of the abdominal muscles and is responsible for supporting the lumbar spine and pelvic area at a time when ligaments are lax due to the natural hormone relaxin excreted by the body during the pregnancy and nursing stages. Lateral breathing also inherent in Pilates fitness, which improves rib cage mobility when the range of motion in the diaphragm is limited due to the high position of the baby in the third trimester.

Back pain is a common side effect of pregnancy. Unless the abdominal muscles, pelvis and spine are strengthened, problems with the back can occur. Strengthening the transversus abdominus (“abs) through guided Pilates movements will not only improve back pain and postural alignment, but will aid women during labor for a much quicker & safer delivery. Research has shown that activation of the transverses abdominus also activates the pelvic floor, keeping these muscles strong and supple for the birthing process. This can also help with any incontinence that you may experience during and after pregnancy.

The nature of movement in Pilates exercise is low impact and allows pregnant women to exercise effectively without experiencing any undue stress on the now lax joints, or an increased heart rate. Pilates also involves many stretching and toning exercises that helps to maintain hip flexibility and stamina, which is essential for well-being and preparation for childbirth. These exercises are aided and supported by Pilates apparatuses such as the reformer: a moving carriage on a bed; the wunda chair with springs to create resistance and the trapeze table to hang from. Pilates exercises also can be performed on a mat with small props such as pillows or cushions which supports the head, the magic circle, foam rollers and therabands for extra resistance.

Most exercise modifications happen during the second and third trimester due to the ever-increasing belly. All Pilates movements, at this point are best done seated up right or side lying. However, you can work supine as long as the head is elevated with pillows at 30 degrees above the heart for no longer than 5 minutes, turning to the side for a break. This ensures natural blood flow and oxygen to the A popular exercise among pregnant Pilates enthusiasts is legwork on the wunda chair. It involves sitting on a small stool with springs attached to a lever and pushing the lever down with your feet. This Pilates movement provides conditioning for the legs and activation of the abdominal muscles, which stabilize the pelvis.

Remember it’s very important that your Pilates instructor is certified and has experience in working with pregnant women.

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Reported Benefits of Maternal Exercise:

Provides physical and mental benefits

Feels good and renews energy

Helps maintain fitness

Helps avoid excessive weight gain

Improves posture

Decreases incidence of back pain

Prepares body for extra weight load

Facilitates circulation

Helps with recovery

Reduces incidence of varicose veins and hemorrhoids

Improves self esteem

By following sensible and research-based guidelines, like these from ACOG (1994, 2002), pregnant clients can ensure that they have exercise programs that are appropriate.

Approval from your obstetrician: Some medical conditions make exercise during pregnancy inadvisable or justify modifications, therefore all clients should get permission.

A planned program that is mild to moderate intensities and avoid exercise to the point of exhaustion: If you are already fit, simply making small changes to your program in order to keep you safe will be appropriate, if you are new to exercise, beginning with a low level program and progress slowly is the key.

Regular and moderate duration sessions: Pregnant clients should exercise at least 3 days per week because regular activity is safer and more beneficial than intermittent or on-again, off-again exercise.

Use recommended types of exercise: Recommended exercises include low-impact activities like swimming, walking, stationary cycling, stretching and resistance training.

Avoid jerky, ballistic, bouncy and extreme range of motion movements: Balance and hormonal changes during pregnancy make activities with these types of movements higher risk.

Avoid supine exercise after the first trimester: After the first trimester, the client should avoid exercise for prolonged periods of time while lying on her back due to the possibility of the fetus compressing the vena cava vein that returns blood to the heart.

Avoid exercise in hot, humid environments and drink plenty of water: I encourage each of my clients to drink six ounces of water every 10-15 minutes during exercise, especially during the first trimester when increases in maternal temperature can put the fetus at risk for neural tube defects.

Clients should increase calorie intake: Each client should speak with her doctor about an a appropriate weight gain. Average weight gain is between 25 and 35 pounds. Pregnancy is not a time to lose weight, control weight and restrict calories. It is common for pregnant women to gain two to four pounds during the first trimester, 10-11 pounds during the second trimester and 12-13 pounds during the third trimester. Generally an extra 200-300 calories can be added to the diet by the middle of the second trimester by gradually increasing caloric intake. Cutting calories during pregnancy puts the fetus at risk. Calories from carbohydrates are the best source of placental and fetal glucose and without adequate carbs, protein and other nutritional sources will be depleted. Adding a simple half bagel or half cup of rice, beans or pasta adds 80-150 calories to your diet.

Resistance training: Many pregnant women do not want to give up any part of their fitness routine, so you need to know how to continue a strength program safely. Lower weights and higher repetitions will maintain tone and strength with less risk of damaging ligaments.

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Although it is important for everyone to have a health insurance, it is particularly important in the context of pregnant women. The reason is obvious: there are many things that can go wrong during pregnancy, or could be made better if the woman is aware of certain facts. Therefore, it is essential that pregnant women periodically receive check-ups in order to make sure the pregnancy is progressing properly and there are no detectable problems with their unborn child.

Unfortunately, many pregnant women do not have health insurance. It has been statistically shown that when they deliver, their babies are more likely to have low birth weight and higher incidents of death.

Getting an insurance while pregnant has become significant today because of the towering cost of health insurance in the United States. According to the American Health Association, 41 million Americans are not insured, and around 13% pregnant women in the country do not possess any form of health insurance. This puts these women and their unborn children at risk.

Prenatal checkups can be very expensive, not to mention hospital and delivery charges which could cost $10,000 or more. Furthermore, if there are complications, such as premature birth or the woman requires a cesarean section, the costs would be much greater. Therefore, it is strongly recommended for pregnant women to find a way to obtain health insurance.

The problem is that most companies do not accept new insurance policies from pregnant women whose pregnancy has been assessed as a pre-existing condition. Ideally, if you are a woman and you know you wish to get pregnant, things would be much easier for you if you got health insurance before you got pregnant. That being said, if you are uninsured and found out you are pregnant, here are some useful tips that could help you obtain health insurance:

First, shop around – search the internet – for health insurance companies who can provide pregnancy health coverage and discounted health care coverage. It is easy to get free instant quotes from multiple providers. Some may very well be more affordable than others.

Second, there are some federally funded programs which offer healthcare coverage for low income people. Medicaid, for example, allows you to enroll in a health insurance plan even when you are pregnant. An additional program is CHIP. Some states have specialized programs for this purpose: investigate whether your state offers one.

Third, look for additional benefits provided by other agencies. WIC is a federal agency that offers health services to low income women and children under 5, and also provides food supplements.

Finally, if you are in a position where you have several options, make sure you choose your plan carefully: choose the plan which covers all the benefits you may require. For example a hospital-only plan will not cover visits to a physician’s clinic.

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