Exercising during pregnancy and following childbirth can be safe and beneficial for the mother and the baby.

During pregnancy, the pelvic floor is put under large amounts of stress to hold and support the enlarged uterus and increasing size and weight of the growing baby. If not strong enough, the pelvic floor weakens and becomes susceptible to pelvic instability pain and incontinency. By increasing blood flow throughout the body and creating awareness of the pelvic floor and core stabilisers, pre-natal Pilates assists in minimising the occurrence and/or rehabilitating the problems if they have already occurred.  The low-impact work-out of pre-natal Pilates also assists with reducing back pain, joint swelling and muscular fatigue and soreness. It is a valuable tool in maintaining healthy blood pressure and stress levels and in reducing complications and labour length during and after childbirth.

An increase in muscular strength, flexibility, cardiovascular fitness and energy levels will also be apparent and beneficial to the expecting mother when participating in Pilates.

At Core Health, we encourage the expecting mother to remain as active as viable for both the baby and herself. Initial exercising will be conducted as individual one-on-one Pilates sessions, to determine fitness levels and create specificity of the exercise program. If all is well, the expecting mother will be encouraged to begin Group Equipment classes upon re-assessment at the 3^rd trimester, to which individual sessions will re-commence or all exercises will cease depending on the progress of the mother.