Continuing normal yoga class while pregnant?

[philbee]

Hi. I'm 14 weeks pregnant now. I stopped going to my usual yoga class for the first 12 weeks but am keen to start again. I've tried a few pregnancy yoga classes, but the emphasis is all on the pregnancy and labour and not so much on the yoga, and tbh I find it boring and stressful. This is pg no. 3 for me, one DC and one miscarriage (last year).

I've been doing yoga for years and just want to carry on my practice without it being made into a special 'nurturing', 'bonding' time. My usual class is very mixed in terms of ability, and the teacher is very careful to check health issues at the start of each class, very accepting of limits, and offers lots of different levels of each pose as a matter of course. I have had PGP in previous pregnancies but have been doing a lot of stuff to prepare this time and it hasn't come on beyond little twinges at the end of very sedentary days. I know what to avoid and what I can do with the PGP as well.

I'd just like to hear what others think - did you carry on with your usual class and just take it easier? Or do you think I have to subject myself to all the preggo stuff this time? I am low risk, and the previous mc was a blighted ovum, nothing physical to do with my carrying the baby (in fact my body held onto it for 12 weeks before giving up). Just not sure I can take another six months of no classes or classes where we all have to connect with our babies incessantly and praise ex class members who 'did well and had a natural birth without pain relief' (grr, like anyone chooses an emcs). The baby is INSIDE MY BODY, FGS, how much more connected can you get? Sorry, rant over. Do you see why I need yoga?

Speak to your teacher.
So long as you are experienced and the teacher knows you should be able to carry on.
We had a lady carry on in our class till she was 7 months.

When I was preg with DC2 I carried on pilates and bodypump till I was overdue
and we've had teachers instructing up to 37 weeks!

The rule for pregnancy is yes carry on as you were before just dont start anything new.

So yes, keep going to yoga, it will be beneficial to you and your baby.

I used to teach aerobic classes and carried on teaching till I was 36 weeks pregnant.

You do need to be careful with stretches though because your body creates more of a particular hormone when pg which makes you a bit more flexible so you have more of a risk of injury. Make sure your teacher knows you are pregnant and she can tell you what particular stretches (if any) you should avoid.

I had done yoga a year before, and literally had taken the first of a 12 week course when I got my bfp. What teacher and GP both said was that if I had been doing it all along, staying with normal class would have been fine but as I had such a gap, I was better going into PG class through hospital if I could. So absolutely stay with it if you're going all along. (I ended up losing the rest of the pre-paid course too!! grr!!)

I was lucky though, that I knew early enough to book into the hosp classes when I was 13 weeks, and they did some stuff about birth but very little about babs inside - it really was about stretching, staying mobile and learning types of breathing for labour. I was able to get 3 sets of classes (most only started for their last few weeks) and that really helped me to stay running around (and I do mean running!! around the office, getting told off by male bosses :) ) until the end.