I teach prenatal yoga. One of the gals in my class is about 14-16 weeks along, and knows that she will be having a C-section. I don’t remember why this is… I believe that a previous pregnancy turned bad, and they had to do an emergency C-section to remove the baby before it was viable. Because of the way they cut her, there is no way that she can deliver vaginally. She has asked me if there are any exercises that she can do to prepare herself for a C-section. Obviously, in class, we do a lot of squatting and opening of the hips, inner thighs, and pelvic region. Any suggestions for her? Thank you so much for your time, and this invaluable service you provide. R
It is a bit late for her to be doing abdominal strengthening. If she were asking the question in early first trimester the answer would be different. But at this point best is to just give her extra tone in the entire region, which for me would be standard procedure for pregnancy. I would pay particular attention to both toning and stretching her psoas and other hip flexors plus the quadriceps. Poses to do this would include gomukhasana (legs only plus laying forward and backward); pigeon; some that are in my book include runner (both lifted and sinking), groin stretch, and the rolling bridge. Best wishes.