Full-body exercises can help reduce the burden caused by weight gain and strengthen the muscles in key areas. Additionally, if you learn how to move your pelvis easily during pregnancy, it will be easier to find the right position for childbirth. Janet Balaskas, an advocate of active birth, developed a series of prenatal exercises by adapting yoga movements. Her suggestions are as follows:

Forward Bend Exercise

1. Stand with your feet parallel, about 30 cm apart. Hold your hands behind your back. Slowly bend forward from the hips, keeping your back straight. Take a deep breath and then slowly rise back up.

2. After successfully completing the first step, you can move on to the second stage of the exercise. After bending forward, slowly raise your arms until they reach their highest point.

Pelvic Exercise

Kneel on the floor with your knees about 30 cm apart and hands on the ground. Tighten the muscles of your buttocks, arch your back into a curve, placing your pelvis in the hollow underneath. Hold this position for a few seconds, then relax. Be careful not to let your back sag. Repeat this movement several times.

Pelvic Floor

The pelvic floor muscles form a tunnel-like structure that supports the uterus, intestines, and bladder, and can close the openings to the vagina, rectum, and urethra. During pregnancy, the increased secretion of progesterone causes these muscles to soften and relax. To improve this condition, you can perform exercises that keep the pelvic floor muscles strong. Contract the muscles around the vagina and anus, as if trying to hold back urine. Hold this position without straining, then relax. Perform this exercise about 25 times a day. After giving birth, resume these exercises as soon as possible to prevent uterine prolapse. Starting early can also help tighten the vagina and restore sexual function. If possible, incorporate this exercise into your daily routine.

The pelvic floor is composed of two main groups of muscles distributed around the openings of the urethra, cervix, and anus, with the thickest muscle layer located at the perineum.

Lower Back Exercise

1. Lie on the floor with your arms at your sides, palms facing down. Press your feet into the ground to raise your pelvis so that your spine is level with your neck. Slowly lower your spine, one vertebra at a time.

2. Once your sacrum touches the floor, bend your knees and hold them, keeping this position for a few minutes while taking deep breaths.

3. Straighten your right leg on the floor while gently holding your left knee. Repeat the same motion with the other leg.

4. Bend your knees and cross your feet at the ankles. While keeping your lower back pressed to the floor, rotate your hips in small circles clockwise, then repeat the motion in the opposite direction.

Spinal Twisting Exercise

Lie on the floor with your shoulders and arms flat. As you exhale, slowly twist your knees to the left while turning your head to the right, gently twisting your spine. Hold this position for a few seconds. Return to the center, relax your knees, and then repeat the movement by twisting your knees to the right and turning your head to the left.

Inhale, then slowly exhale while gently lowering your back to the ground. Supporting your bent legs with both arms can effectively stretch your thighs and lower back.

Bend your knees, hold this position for a while, and take deep breaths. Bring your legs together, keeping your feet uncrossed, then bend your knees. Open your arms in line with your shoulders, palms facing down.