I will be giving birth at a birth center as long as nothing goes wrong that requires a hospital transfer. This means no pain medication is offered. I want to go natural and had planned on using Hypnobirthing. My family is not 100% on board with it but my husband is so I haven't been too worried.
Yesterday my grandmother told me I needed to start doing the exercises they give me to do since labor is so hard. I was confused and thought she meant breathing exercises so I mentioned them. She said no "the exercises that build your thigh muscles so you don't faint"
Is their exercises I should be doing or is she off her rocker? My doctor hasn't mentioned anything at all and after hearing this Im starting to worry that I really am not prepared!
Re: Starting to get nervous
It's never a bad idea to exercise! It has nothing to do with fainting, though ;p
I did a lot of pilates during my pregnancies to help strengthen my core and pelvic floor. I think it help me with getting into different positions during labour and also helped with recovery.
Think of labor as a marathon. If you knew you were running a marathon in 20 weeks, you'd train for it, right? The Bradley method encourages walking or some other form of exercise and some simple exercise to get your back and belly ready for childbirth.
https://books.google.com/books?id=pQJgmGikQH4C&pg=PA123&lpg=PA123&dq=bradley+childbirth+exercises&source=bl&ots=xdnkxg-YBW&sig=urtlGp9NT1A09KRhHD8GIVYDbzo&hl=en&ei=t5diTZ_7LoL6lweTrbyVDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CDkQ6AEwBjgK#v=onepage&q=bradley%20childbirth%20exercises&f=false