Yes! Pilates is a non impact and gentle exercise programme. It is safe for women who have pelvic girdle or lower back pain. There is even good evidence that tailored stability exercises are effective in reducing pain and improving ease of day to day activities. The NHS and the Association of Pelvic, Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapists (POPG) recommend Pilates based exercises in pelvic girdle pain management.
But, having pain makes it even more important to have your exercises prescribed for you. Pelvic girdle pain doesn’t necessarily get better from just being more active. For some mums to be, some activities can make the pain feel worse. We recommend you get advice and support from a specially trained physiotherapist.
A physiotherapist will be able to prescribe a Pilates programme for you after assessing your needs. Our pregnancy Pilates classes are small groups so that we can understand your needs and give you lots of one-to-one support.
In our Pregnancy Pilates classes we use exercise to:
- Retrain abdominal muscles that are often stretched and weak in pregnancy
- Improve posture
- Gently stretch tight muscles
- Support joints, ligaments and fascia (connective tissue) that might be under strain from the bump and increased weight
- Retrain pelvic floor muscles which are often weaker in pregnancy
- Improve co-ordination and balance
- Normalise muscle balance and support
- Help you develop an understanding of your changing body
If you have pelvic pain or lower back pain, you may wish to do a pre-class introduction before joining our classes. Our physiotherapists can use their knowledge and expertise to help.