Pilates in pregnancy

[mamasunshine]

I'm 16 wks pg with dc3. It'll be my 3rd baby in 3 years and haven't really done any pilates since before ds1. I never did pilates very regularly either. I'm fairly fit in a 'have had 3 babies in 3 years way!' Would it be a bad idea to begin pilates at 16 wks pregnant?

I've been doing pilates for a couple of years and am now 29 weeks pregnant with my first. My pilates classes are run by my physio and all the teachers are proper physios. As soon as I told them I was pregnant, they were very careful and specific about which exercises I should and should not do and the level of intensity at which I should do them and put me at the front of the class so they could keep a closer eye on me. I don't think it would necessarily be a bad idea to restart pilates after such a break but I would want to be very confident in the pilates instructor's level of knowledge and experience and that they really knew how to monitor and adapt exercises for pregnant ladies. I wouldn't, for example, just go to a class at the local sports centre and join in with everyone else. I love pilates, I think it's great.

I had this dvd when pregnant, although there are others out there. Very gentle, endorsed by RCP etc. Tummy snapped back afterwards - but don't know if that was solely responsible, obviously!!

If you haven't done it before it would probably be worth trying to find a pregnancy-specific class: some instructors are much more clued up than others about pregnancy, and if you haven't done it for a while it won't be obvious whether they know what they're doing or not. I'm another real fan - I've done it for 7 years, and throughout my pregnancy (I'm 39 weeks now, and I'm sure it's down to the Pilates that I haven't had any back problems at all).

Thank you for the replies. I had an e-mail back from a pilates instructor and she suggested it was not ideal. It would have been better if I had been doing pilates pre-pregnancy, with an understanding of pelvic floor/pelvic tilt and posture type etc. Also about the limitations of postures during pregnancy. So think I'll leave it until after baby is here! Very annoyed I didn't find the time to begin this earlier!! Will stick to a gentle yoga class for now

does anyone know any nice pregnancy yoga or pilates classes in leicester / coventry area? thanks