Continuing with the 10 Tips for VBAC’s (according to me and my personal experience… original post can be found here!)
VBAC tip #5 is Looking after Mumma…
I recently Q & A’d Amanda Vella, the beauty and brains behind Illuminate Yoga in Sydney… she’s a sexy mumma yoga teacher!!! (That’s her above!! HOT HOT HOT!)
1. Why do you think it’s important for pregnant mumma’s to look after themselves “holistically”?
Because pregnancy is an all-encompassing experience. Along with the changes in your body come changes in your thoughts and feelings. It also sets you up for looking after yourself post-birth, which many women forget to do.
2. How do you think prenatal Yoga fits into this?
Prenatal yoga is the perfect way for a woman to keep healthy during pregnancy. Everything we do is safe, it is non-impact and it focuses on preparing your body and mind for birth and beyond.
3. In particular to mamma’s wanting a VBAC how do you think prenatal yoga can help?
Having a vaginal birth after c-section is perfectly safe with the right preparation and support. The thing with VBACs is the amount of fear surrounding them so many doctors won’t attempt them. If you do manage to find a doctor and/or midwife to support you, prenatal yoga is vital for helping you stay calm and focused. A good teacher will help you replace any fear with faith and give you plenty of relaxation and pain management techniques. This is important because it is widely known that fear and tension have a huge impact on the way labour unfolds.
4. Give us a quick breakdown of how you run your prenatal yoga class?
My prenatal yoga classes are all about instilling confidence and helping women embrace this most miraculous event. My objective is to help every woman feel ready; physically, emotionally and mentally for birth. It can be can be an incredibly challenging experience but if a woman is relaxed and fearless it can also be a transformational and empowering.
5. What other “pregnancy” classes do you offer?
I teach one Mums and Bubs Yoga class a week and I have just started offering Prenatal Yoga Workshops for Partners. The wonderful thing about these is that men get to see what their partners are learning in prenatal yoga and it helps prepare them for how she may handle the different stages of labour.
6. Any other tips?
Breathe slowly and deeply, surround yourself with people who only have positive things to say about birth and trust your body.
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Amanda Vella owns Illuminate Yoga in Sydney. She is a certified Prenatal Yoga Teacher for Conscious Birth and is passionate about all things birth, bumps and babies. Amanda has two daughters and gave birth to her second at home in 2010. She is an advocate for home birth and gentle, aware parenting.
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