The humble squat: How to adapt squats in pregnancy to support your birth and postpartum healing.
The Humble squat: How it can support (or hinder) Your birth and postpartum Recovery.
Why Squats are a daily movement - Not just a safe exercise in pregnancy
The squat a movement most of you will be familiar with wether you do them every day in the gym with weights or as part of an exercise to music class. If you do not take part in structured activity then you will certainly perform squats in your daily life. To sit down and stand up for example or too pick things up from the floor.
Are squats safe in pregnancy? - Yes but here is what you need to know
This simple move can become pretty tricky as you navigate through pregnancy and into the postpartum period. Squats are safe for exercise in pregnancy yes but we will need to adapt them depending on your stage of pregnancy. In the first trimester for example high levels of the hormone relaxin make our pelvis less stable so adding support in between the things to maintain adductor engagement would be a great idea! Squatting in the second and third trimester our femurs are going to want to turn out to create lots of space in the pelvic inlet. If it feels great then you squat away but for some this may cause you pain so we need to adapt the movement to keep you feeling comfortable and injury free!
Your pre conditioned holding patterns before you fell pregnant, can begin to cause pain in pregnancy. (By that I mean do you tend to roll in on your feet, stand more on your left than your right or have toes that turn out)
When we fall pregnant these life long holding patterns which are mainly down to your genetics can really start to cause you pain. This was certainly my experience. And the pain was so intense that it took me on to the path of pregnancy yoga training and then further down the pre and postnatal rabbit hole in to birth bio mechanics and pelvic health recovery for postpartum.
The basic squat as pictured below is a simple movement bending the knees to strengthen the legs. You can do it with your toes pointing forward like this…
Or you can do it with your toes turned out. As you can see below… I see the one below the “Goddess pose” alot in pregnancy yoga practices. And it is great to open the top part of the pelvis to allow your baby to get head down and find their OP or (optimal position for birth)
Adapting squats for pelvic girdle pain, sciatica or prolapse in pregnancy and postpartum
If you have pelvic girdle pain in pregnancy or sciatica in pregnancy then this particular variation on a squat is likely to cause you significant pain. And I mean like eye watering, possibly even tear inducing or full blow crying pain. I have been there. I have experienced the pain and the heart ache that comes when trying to move your body in pregnancy.
Many pregnant women find this is great for opening the top of the pelvic inlet to let your babies head engage ready for birth.
If you have experienced pain doing this particular variation then bare with me. This blog post could change your pregnancy experience and your post part recovery.
Let me start with the basics. When you turn your feet out you rotate your femur bone in your hip socket. You compress the muscles around the outside of the hip and all of the glute muscles get a good old squish up too! (This tightening is often what is causing the sciatic pain in pregnancy )
However it can be helpful for some women to focus on opening the legs in this way to create more space at the top of the pelvis. You will know if this is you as when you try the above squat you will not be in any pain.
If you do feel pain then we need to work on doing the opposite of this movement for you. Don’t worry we can still find ways to open the top bit of the pelvis (In a way that your body needs it to open) That does not cause you pain. In fact it will feel pretty damn good!
So where do we start? We want to strengthen the inner thighs and we want to lengthen the glute and the outer thigs. A split stance squat could be just the thing for you! Especially if you angle the back knee slightly in and put a roller on the inside of the front leg. This wakes up your inner thighs on both sides. It opens up your glutes and will create space for you baby to drop down into its optimal position!
Squats, breath work and presure management for pelvic floor health in pregnancy and after birth
Another thing to consider especially if you have leaking or prolapse is how to redistribute the pressure in your body during a movement like this. You may have seen Instagram peeps mention this as pressure management. It sounds a bit fancy. But in a nut shell as you inhale the volume inside your pregnant or post partum body increases. The oxygen has to go somewhere and if your pelvic floor and diapraghm are comprised by tight glutei or a rib cage that won’t expand out then the pressure has to push down causing your leaking. We need to work really smart with a squat to control how we redistribute the pressure in our bodies.
Do you really hinge forward when you squat? I bet if you didn’t before you fell pregnant and began to exercise again you do now! Your growing bump will naturally pull you forward. Which isn’t an issue if you feel fine. However if you have back pain during pregnancy or tight calves in your third trimester or pain at the front of your pelvis doing this while squatting in pregnancy then these tips really could could change the game.
Use a door stand arms length away.
Hold onto the door and walk your hands down as you bed your knees into a squat
Keep your body up right
Follow the breathing pattern inhale as you bend your knees, exhale as your lengthen
If you heels want to lift off maybe roll a blunt and place it under the heels to elevate them slightly
Make sure your big ones stay down
If you do have pain at the front of your pelvis adding a yoga block between your legs could be really helpful
You can see what this looks like in my picture here…
There are of course many other adaptations to your old exercise routine that you can do to support your exercise in pregnancy.
The real magic: Body awareness and breathwork for birth and beyond.
Yoga is great for pregnancy but in my opinion its biggest benefits are the increased body awareness and better connection to breath with supports nervous system regulation. This is so important to reduce anxiety in pregnancy, support you feeling in control during labour and after birth. Breath practice is quite frankly the only thing that kept me sane. Kept me present. Stopped it all from falling apart. (Breath work is also key for pelvic floor function in pregnancy and for healing any abdominal separation that you might have)
Ready for more? How to learn safe squats and birth Bio Mechanics online.
If this blog has spiked your interest and you would like some more information there a few ways I can support you. My brand new birth bio mechanics mini course is a fabulous way to prepare your body for both. There is a birth positions workshop and 4 short yoga flows to help you connect with your body and better understand how your body works to birth your baby.
If you are postpartum I have a fabulous pelvic floor recovery programme. We go through the nitty gritty of how the pelvic floor works in the body and movements that you can try (with adapations) to support pelvic floor function if you are experiencing, heaviness, leaking and prolapse. Your movement journey absolubtley does not have to end with these symptoms. We just need to make adaptations to support your healing.
And if you need more my diary is open for one to one work either online or in person! I am here to support you in your pregnancy or after birth. The whole you, leaking, be it from your breasts or your bladder and see you become the strongest version of the mother you are here to be!
