Five Good Pelvic Exercises for Pregnancy

Pelvic exercises during pregnancy have many benefits and most are easy to do at home. The most effective pelvic exercises for pregnancy are pelvic tilting and pelvic floor exercises. Pelvic tilts relieve backaches and gently strengthen your core. Pelvic floor exercises, called Kegels, can help shorten the second stage of labor and quicken postpartum healing. Always take care and listen to your body when starting a new exercise program, and talk to your doctor or midwife if you have any concerns about pelvic exercises during pregnancy.

Five Pelvic Exercises for Pregnancy

Supine Pelvic Tilts
Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Exhale and tuck your tailbone, flattening your lower back against the floor. Inhale and tilt your pelvis forward, arching your lower back. Repeat.

Two Knee Spinal Twist
Lie on your back with your knees above your hips. Exhale and slowly lower your knees to the right, keeping your torso on the floor. Inhale to lift, and exhale as you slowly lower both knees to the left. Repeat several times on both sides. Be sure not to put pressure on the abdomen as you twist.

Cat and Cow
Come onto your hands and knees. Inhale and lift your head and tailbone up, arching your back. This is Cow pose. Exhale and round your back like a scared cat, tucking chin to chest and lowering your tailbone. Repeat with your breath. Cat and Cow stretches during pregnancy exercise the pelvis as well as the spine, and can help your baby find the right position during labor.

Kegels
Pelvic floor muscles are what you feel if you purposefully stop the flow of urine. Isolate these muscles and gently contract them for a few seconds. Release and repeat. Gradually increase the length of time you hold the contraction. As pelvic exercises for pregnancy, practice Kegels for five minutes at a time, three times a day.

Kegel Elevators
Contract the pelvic floor muscles and increase the intensity of your contraction in five increments, imagining each increment as an elevator stop. Release one increment at a time. Practicing both Kegels and Kegel Elevators during pregnancy can help you labor more effectively and heal more quickly after giving birth.

Sources:

Recommended Poses for Pre-Natal Yoga: http://yoga.about.com/od/prenatalyogaposes/Recommended_Poses_for_Prenatal_Yoga.htm

Mama's Health; Pelvic Exercises: http://www.mamashealth.com/pregnancy/pelvicmusc.asp