Yoga, pregnancy, birth and beyond.
We passionately believe that Yoga should be readily available to all women throughout their pregnancy regardless of their current circumstances and so have created this completely FREE resource.
This YouTube channel gives you to access short pre-recorded classes from 15-30 minutes, varying in intensity and enabling you to participate at your own convenience throughout your pregnancy.
It also gives you a chance to see, whether this style is what you’re looking for before making the financial commitment of purchasing the Pregnancy Yoga Plan or enrolling for private classes.
You will find the classes are conveniently divided in to categories. These are representative of the varying styles that make up longer classes in the online course and in person classes. They range from gentle, nurturing EASE classes to more energetic FLOW practices, with a few BREATHE and BE classes included too. The intention is to enable you to select what type of class might feel more appropriate for what your body needs on any given day.
It’s important to reiterate with these online classes as with all yoga practice to listen to your own body and if something feels painful, ‘not right’ or you just aren’t feeling it, to come to a child’s pose or comfortable seated position, pause and just breathe. Read on for a more detailed guide of the different classes to help you navigate our channel.
Along with her own Blogs, Dr Leah has been able to share her knowledge, contributing to guest blogs on other pages:
…This is a culmination of the very latest research in to pelvic girdle pain, how the evidence has changed, helping you understand the mechanisms behind and ways you can support yourself.
Bellamoon set up by one woman following her own pregnancy and postnatal experience, in is an incredible pregnancy support system, designed to help a more comfortable night’s sleep, but can be adapted in the postnatal period to a feeding pillow.
…I describe my own journey to yoga after suffering burnout and what an incredible resource in can be to prevent and support healthcare workers suffering from this condition
Yoga MedicineTM was founded by internationally renowned and highly regarded Tiffany Cruickshank. The aim to provide yoga as a therapeutic adjunct, bridging the gap between yoga and medical systems. They run online and in person trainings for yoga teachers and have recently launched their online yoga studio, with daily yoga classes from some incredible Yoga Medicine TM Therapeutic specialists available to all.
…In this blog I explore more deeply the current evidence on how yoga can help reduce this risk of pregnancy complications and improve mental health.
The Womb Effect founder Dr Nauf Al Bendar is a medical scientist with a deep appreciation for the developmental origins of health and disease. By decoding recent studies on the impact of preconception, pregnancy, birth and the first years of life, Nauf uses her platform to bridge the gap between clinical evidence and public information.
If you’ve wondered about the what, whys and hows of assisted vaginal birth and what it means if you want to refuse this, check out the blog I wrote on this. I have also written a separate article on caesarean or abdominal birth click to find out more.
Cheryl is an NHS midwife, hypnobirthing teacher and has a great resource The Hollistic Midwife, where she shares helpful articles written by a variety of healthcare professionals.
Catch Dr Leah on the Birth-Ed podcast talking about the benefits of yoga in pregnancy, how yoga has influenced her practice as an obstetrician and how it fits in to the maternity system. There’s heaps of other great episodes talking about all things birth and pregnancy related
If you’re new to practice, start with something basic, don’t go out and spend a fortune. Yogamatters have affordable basic mats that have good grip and are available to buy in a whole range of colours. If you’ve been practicing for a while and want to invest, you might want something a bit more durable that has a degree of cushioning for your knees. For 10% off first time purchases enter code HOMEYOGA at checkout.
We love the Manduka eko mat which is not only nice and thick meaning no need to double up your mat or use a blanket but it’s also eco-friendly rubber, meaning it’s biodegradable and contains no nasties. To receive 10% off all purchases use the code YOGADOC at checkout.
Yoga is a fantastic resource for any point in your reproductive journey and you may be interested in exploring other allied health professionals to support you. It can often be helpful to have a personal recommendation, given there are so many out there to choose from. Here’s a great place to get started.
Rising Mother – Carrie Sirry is an experienced registered midwife, hypnobirthing teacher and mother of two, she offers private hypnobirthing classes through her own website and through the birth collective.
Clare Bourne is an experienced physiotherapist specialising in women’s health, based in West London. Through her platform @clarebournephysio she offers incredible free advice about pelvic health.
Niamh Burn is an incredible women’s health physotherapist and an affiliate of the Pelvic Obstetric and Gynaecology physiotherapists. She’s based in North/East London and offers Mummy MOT’s
If you are not London based a great resource to find a physiotherapist in your area is the squeezy app.
Kate Doyle is an NHS midwife with over 10 years of practice and also is a certified specialist in pregnancy aromatherapy and reflexology for pregnancy, postnatal and babies.
If you’re Sussex based, Abi England is a fantastic reflexologist with extensive experience, who I used in my own pregnancy. She specialises in prenatal reflexology and offers home treatments.
Bodywork therapies like osteopathy can be incredibly helpful to aid your body in facial relaxation and help in aligning the pelvis for birth. Craniosacral osteopathy is a subtle but incredibly powerful method of helping prepare for birth and is something I used both during pregnancy and in the postpartum. Julia Cooper at Pure Dynamic osteopathy in North London is someone I’d highly recommend.
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