Prenatal & Postnatal

Specialist

I specialised in prenatal and postnatal exercise in 1997. Watching my clients’ experiences, I wanted to support and encourage them through this time of development giving them the confidence, strength and control physically so they could be ready for the challenges ahead of them.

Prenatal Fitness

Benefits for YOU:

Quicker recovery: Women who are aerobically more active return to pre-pregnant weight faster.
Feel good: Exercising boosts the self-esteem & a sense of wellbeing.
Beat back pain: Through postural adjustments & strengthening, back pain can be significantly reduced.
Pain relief: Regular exercise can increase the endorphin levels in the body resulting in a natural ‘hig’" & reduced pain levels during labour.
Pelvic floor: Exercising the pelvic floor muscles not only reduces the risk of incontinence during and after pregnancy but also helps muscle control for childbirth & aids toning & recovery afterwards.
Complete beginner?: Progressive exercise in pregnancy of an inactive person is a positive move to improve the mother’s fitness levels with no harmful effects on the foetus.
Breathe easy: Exercise increases the VO2 max (the highest amount of oxygen that can be used by the body during exertion) & enhances the cardiopulmonary reserve.
Endurance training: It can improve your tolerance to labour and the actual delivery. Researchers found that women who perform regular exercise tended to have shorter labours and less C-sections.
Positive approach: A regular exercise regime of aerobics throughout pregnancy has a beneficial effect on the labour process.
High on life: Reports show less postnatal depression in exercising mums.
Abdominal training: A study by James Clapp III found that one year after giving birth, the abdominal recovery back to pre-pregnant tone in non-active mums had decreased by 52% whereas active mums lost only 15% of their original abdominal tone.

Benefits for BABY:

Clean filter: Exercise early in pregnancy stimulates the placental growth rate. Exercise in late pregnancy may improve placental function capacity. (Clapp 1992)
Leaner, healthier: Babies from active mums tend to be leaner. Bigger babies may be at higher risk of developing asthma & other allergic conditions.
Brain cells: Sound and vibratory stimuli before birth may accelerate the development of the baby’s brain. (Clapp 1992)

Pushy Mothers

Fitness

When I had my first son Max in 2001 I truly understood how big a life change it was when becoming a mother, physically and mentally so I set up a weekly buggy brigade group on Hampstead Heath to encourage the new mums to get out of the house and to meet like minded women. Once those buggy wheels started rolling one rainy grey November 2001 they never stopped…

I was the founder of Pushy Mothers (2006 - 2013) which at the time was accredited by the Royal College of Midwives and the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Women’s Health. I was one of the first pioneers in the UK outdoor fitness market to train groups of people in parks and outdoor spaces back in 2001. When people said "Why would you want to do that?" As the saying goes; “There’s no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing”; so we threw on our kagools, got on out there whatever the weather and never looked back.