Pregnancy and the months after it are the times people most want to keep moving and most worry about getting it wrong. The rules at Return are clear, and they exist so you never have to guess.
During pregnancy
If you already train with us, you are welcome to continue group classes up to 16 weeks of pregnancy, as long as there is no pain or discomfort. Tell your instructor your stage, because some exercises will be adjusted, and we will ask you to complete a short pregnancy form.
For a high risk pregnancy, speak with your doctor before continuing.
After 16 weeks
Move from group classes to either a private session with us or Clinical Pilates run by the physiotherapists at Malvern Physiotherapy Clinic, a few doors up on Wattletree Road. Both give you the closest attention. Which one is right depends on whether you want tailored training or a clinical eye.
The clinic has a physiotherapist with post-graduate training in pelvic floor physiotherapy, which is the person to see if that is a concern.
New to Pilates and pregnant
Talk to us first rather than booking into a class. Our team or the clinic can start you safely, and the right starting point depends on how far along you are and what you have been doing.
Why pelvic floor work matters now
The Cochrane review by Woodley and colleagues in 2020 found that pelvic floor muscle training during pregnancy, in women who were continent, reduced the risk of urinary incontinence in late pregnancy by around 62 per cent. That finding is for structured pelvic floor training, usually taught by a pelvic floor physiotherapist, not for reformer classes in general.
Coming back after birth
- Wait for your check. Discuss exercise with your doctor or obstetrician at your six week appointment. With clearance, usually around six to eight weeks post-partum, you can return. We suggest starting back with a beginner class, and we will ask you to fill in a short post-natal questionnaire.
- Start lower than you think. Whatever you were doing before is not where you restart.
- Tell your instructor everything. How the birth went, how you are healing, how you are sleeping. All of it changes what they offer you.
- Expect it to take time. Abdominal and pelvic floor tissue recovers on its own schedule, not yours.
Why the reformer is well suited to this
The springs give resistance and support at the same time, so you can rebuild strength without loading the joints or the pelvic floor the way impact would. Positions are supported. Load is adjustable in small increments. Your instructor can see exactly what your body is doing.
And because every instructor here trains with the physiotherapists at the clinic, the modifications you get are informed rather than improvised.
Where to go next
Physio and extra support explains how the studio and the clinic work together. For classes once you are cleared, Foundation is our beginners class and the sensible place to rebuild.
Let us know as early as you can, either way. It is the single most useful thing you can do.
