For Christine...

Here are some of the postures we do to warm up in prenatal yoga class.

They are also postures that women often find useful during labor.

Here are some pictures: so you can show your partners how to support you better or just so you can remember them.

Seated Pelvic Circles

Sit in a cross-leg position with the hands on the knees. Move the torso from the hips in as large and smooth a circle as possible. Repeat on both sides.

You can also do this posture from an all-fours position.

Cat stretches

Begin on your hands and knees in a tabletop position. Your back should be flat with your hands directly below your shoulders and your knees below your hips.

Exhale and round your back into a big C curve toward the ceiling like a cat (1). Hug your baby tight with your abdominal muscles by imagining that you’re pulling your belly button toward your spine. Put your chin toward your chest.

Inhale back to the neutral position (1) or for a bit of a deeper stretch, lift the heart and hips (without compressing through your low back.)

Another variation of this all fours stretch is Tigress. Curve through the SIDE of your torso: Take your gaze over your left shoulder as you take your hips to the left (creating a stretch in the RIGHT side of the body.) Sway from side to side.

Superwoman stretch

Kneel on the floor in tabletop posture, knees below the hips, hands below the shoulders and gaze between your hands.
Inhale and extend your right arm and left leg so that your outreached limbs and back form a parallel line to the floor (2). Flex your foot and don’t sway your lower back. Exhale and return to original position. Inhale and repeat with left arm and right leg.

Hope this helps a bit, dear mamas.