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Yoga for moms-to-be

Asanas can help in safe childbirth

A young woman was in hospital and looked around her in disbelief — all the women in that ward had just become mothers and it was obvious childbirth had been an unpleasant, even a traumatic experience for everyone of them. Many were visibly overweight, finding even simple movements well nigh impossible. In general, to all, the situation was clearly difficult to cope with.

"Oh! no, never again," seemed to sum up the collective feelings accurately. "But this is not how it should be," were the thoughts of the young woman. She too had just had her first baby; she'd take care to prepare the ground throughout her pregnancy, and so had found the process of childbirth most joyous, with a heightened sense of responsible participation in the final stages of creation, the safe delivery.

The secret

Sophy Hoare came out of hospital, went on to have three more children and decided to tell the world the secret of safe childbirth. One does not have to two guesses about the title: "Yoga and Pregnancy."

In many homes today, choice has come to replace chance in conception. Parents-in-the-making want the yet-to-be-born to have a head start in everything. If couples want nothing to be left out of their calculations, they should accord top priority to exercise, preferably the yoga way.

There are several excellent reasons for a woman to take to yoga prior to, during and after pregnancy.

At the psychological level, yoga gives the right mix of calmness and confidence necessary in anyone planning to have a baby; at the physical, the legs and spine acquire the required strength and elasticity; and in advanced stages, postural elegance makes for better ability to cope with the extra weight imposed by the growing foetus. Many asanas are calculated to promote and reserve greater pelvic space. Deep breathing exercises bring about a good exchange of gases in the blood stream, and so, cause the quality of circulation to improve greatly.

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(The writer is a city-based yoga consultant)

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