QuestionDo inversions such as hand stands, head stands, back bends - increase the risk of the cord wrapping around the babay's neck?! I'm 19 mo. pregnant and do these postures as part of my yoga practice. I have been doing this for years but stopped in the 1st trimester. I started again 4 weeks ago.
AnswerI have not read any scientific studies that correlate any yoga poses, or any exercises in general, with umbilical cord problems. Most prenatal yoga classes avoid inverted poses, but here again, scientific studies are slim.
Certainly, pregnant women are at increased risk for fainting when coming out of an inverted pose. This is due to the fact that pregnancy increases vasodilation. During an inverted pose, your heart rate and cardiac output must increase in order to push a significant amount of blood against the force of gravity and up into your legs. When you re-establish an erect posture, blood drains downward quickly, and pools into your legs, (due to the combined effects of increased cardiac output and vasodilation). Because it takes a heart beat or two for your body to adjust to the change, in those few seconds, your brain will be low on blood, and you will feel immediately very dizzy and may even faint. Since blood flow in the torso is not greatly effected either way, uterine blood flow is not compromised and your baby is not at risk.
I do not recommend back bends, or any pose that increases the curve of the lower back, during the last half of pregnancy. Pregnancy alter alignment and increases lordosis ( when the pelvis tips, which increases the lower back curve). My philosophy is that regardless of exercise modality, prenatal programs should seek to prevent or lessen the alignment changes and muscular imbalances that pregnancy creates.
