Pilates during pregnancy

[Engram]

My spinal prolapse has acted up again and the physio recommended doing some
Pilates-type exercises, but specifically designed for pregnant women. She
said that unfortunately I didn't get my core strength back before becoming
pregnant again (DS was 6 months old) and my back will keep playing up during
this pregnancy much more than in the last one.

Unfortunately there is no Pilates programme specifically aimed at pregnancy
in my area, or at least none that I have found. I don't want to do yoga, as
I'm not looking for muscle suppleness, but more at strengthening exercises.
If by freak accident someone here lives in the Sutherland Shire in Sydney
and knows of a progamme like this, please, please, please let me know!

My question is twofold:

1) Does anyone know of a Pilates for pregnancy video or DVD that they
consider to be "good"? Or even a website where I can look up exercises, even
if they are just described in text? Failing that, a good book. I'm willing
to import to Australia using Amazon or another web-based re-seller.
Importing through a local distributor takes up to 40 days and I don't have
the luxury of time.

2) Did anyone here go through a similar sort of thing? Even if you don't
have a prolapse at the sacral-lumbar junction like me, what did you do to
cope with the pain? Was there anything in particular that helped?

I'm just feeling a bit sorry for myself at the moment. I've been in constant
pain since last Wednesday so it's coming up on a week and still not going
away. It's lessened so I can lift DS now, but I can't walk, can't stand,
can't sit, can't carry anything heavier than a teacup full of tea or coffee.
Lifting DS leaves me cringing in pain. I really need to do something now,
because he's just going to get heavier and there's no guarantee of when
he'll walk so I won't have to carry him. I have another 18 weeks to go in
this pregnancy and it's looking like hell ahead... I need to increase my
strength, I'm just not sure what I CAN do at this late stage.

--
Matthew 21 June 2005
DD EDD 06 Oct 2006 (maybe)

[Anne Rogers]

Any decent pilates teacher would just accept you into the class and give you
alternatives as necessary.

An alternative would be to find a pilates teacher who you could do a private
session with, I've done this a few times now, I've found that she teaches
the exercises far far better than the physio does so I feel I am doing the
exercises more effectively because I'm much more likely to be doing them
right.

I've been doing pilates since September and whilst it hasn't been a cure to
the severity of my problems, I'm sure it has helped a bit and definitely
prevented me from getting worse. Unfortunately I had an accident 2 weeks ago
and I can't manage the class for the moment, but the teacher came and did a
private session with me at my home, it was fab, since I've seen her and have
been doing the very gentle exercises she recommended I've gradually started
improving.

I understand there are several different organisations that train pilates
teachers, the one I use is trained by BodyControl, so you might want to look
out for that as if the other teachers are as good then you'd be fine!

I'm sorry you're experiencing so much pain, I know how much it sucks, my
daughter was born 10th June 2005, so is a very similar age to your DS and I
cannot pick her up, can barely even manage to have her sit on my knee, I can
only breastfeed her lieing on my right side and someone has to bring her to
me and take her away when she is done.

As for coping with pain in the short term, have you tried TENS? It seems to
be safe to use in pregnancy. I also couldn't have lived without a ho****er
bottle! Also, some of the topical creams, deep heat, deep freeze, that kind
of thing can be very helpful.

Thinking about what we do in a pilates class I think it would really only be
a tiny proportion you wouldn't be able to do, probably less than the number
I can't do! A good teacher will give you an alternative, even if it is only
some kind of relaxation for the time it takes to do that exercise, so I
think you should take the plunge and try a regular class.

Cheers

Anne

[Engram]

Thanks Anne :)

I'll look up Body Control and keep a private instructor in mind. I have full
health insurane and might check with them to see whether I can claim
anything like this. If I can claim gym membership, sports shoes, etc, maybe
I can claim a "personal trainer" as well?

I'm going to display my ignorance here, but what is TENS? Never heard of it.

Cheers!

Kasia

[LAmom2B]

Isn't TENS electric? Are you sure that is safe? My PT won't use it on
pregnant patients.


--
LAmom2B
Posted via newmomsforum : http://www.newmomsforum.com/advice/ : PLEASE NOTE Replies to this post may appear on our forums

[Ericka Kammerer]

LAmom2B wrote:
> Isn't TENS electric? Are you sure that is safe? My PT won't use it on
> pregnant patients.

Yes, it's electric. However, while it is not used
in the US, it is quite commonly used in labor in other parts
of the world. I've never seen anything suggesting it is
unsafe (though some studies question its efficacy).

Best wishes,
Ericka

[LAmom2B]

Hi

I think labor is one thing, but using it as exercise in the way a
person rehab'ing a knee is another. My PT specifically said NO NO to
electro stym which was helping my already bad back before I got
pregnant.


--
LAmom2B
Posted via newmomsforum : http://www.newmomsforum.com/advice/ : PLEASE NOTE Replies to this post may appear on our forums

[Ericka Kammerer]

LAmom2B wrote:
> Hi
>
> I think labor is one thing, but using it as exercise in the way a
> person rehab'ing a knee is another. My PT specifically said NO NO to
> electro stym which was helping my already bad back before I got
> pregnant.

I don't think Anne was talking about that type
of use. I think she was talking about the same sort of
use for pain relief as in labor.

Best wishes,
Ericka