Amanda Martin

Debra GoodmanFor the fourth installment of our Pilates On Call series, we’re focusing on the topic of pregnancy. We’re sure it will be a busy and popular post, if site traffic for this topic is any indicator.

Pilates On Call is a month-long, open Q&A session with an expert, so this is your opportunity to ask about the finer points of Pilates exercise with this population. Perhaps you’d like advice for working with a newly pregnant client, or information about a particular pregnancy-related condition.

We’re thrilled to welcome Debra Goodman, MSPT, back to the site. She’s written several popular articles on Pilates and pregnancy for us, and has an extensive background treating pregnant and postpartum patients. She is one of few physical therapists trained in internal evaluation and treatment of the pelvic floor muscles. And we’re equally thrilled to introduce Amanda Martin, owner of balance in Athens, Georgia, a Pilates and wellness studio that specializes in working with pregnant and post-natal clientele, among other populations. She has been doing this kind of Pilates work since 2004.

Post your questions in the comments section below or email them to us editor@pilates-pro.com. Debra and Amanda will get to them as quickly as possible, but might need a day or two to respond.

As 2009 draws to a close and we refocus our energies on the year to come, it’s nice to reflect on the year past. Thus it’s time for our very own Pilates-Pro.com “Year in Review,” a countdown of the site’s 10 most popular articles in 2009. (This is a great place to start if you’re just discovering us!) We’d like to extend huge thanks to all of the innovative, thoughtful, dedicated and generally amazing Pilates experts who contributed to Pilates-Pro.com this year. Kudos as well to the growing number of community members who use the articles and forums as a place for lively, insightful discussion. Pilates-Pro.com continues to grow because of you. And of course, if you have topics you’d like us tackle in 2010, please drop a line and let us know!

1. Pilates for Scoliosis by Suzanne Martin, PT, DPT
2. Pilates for Feet by Madeline Black
3. Five Ways to Combine Cardio and Pilates by Nicole Rogers
4. Pilates on Call with Siri Dharma Galliano
5. Postpartum Recovery: Helping New Moms Get Their Bodies Back by Debbi Goodman, MSPT
6. 16 Fitness Wear Discounts for Pilates Instructors by Christine Binnendyk
7. Pilates DVD Review: The Jump Board Workout by Nicole Rogers
8. Pilates on Call: Core Conditioning PTs
9. Five Ways to Hook Men on Pilates by Julian Littleford
10. Five Ways to Build Successful Client-Instructor Relationships by Devra Swiger

How to help pregnant clients have a smooth delivery

By Debbi Goodman, MSPT
Pilates can be a wonderful tool to help women feel great during and after pregnancy. A modified Pilates program with emphasis on diaphragm and transversus abdominus strengthening will help to support the growing uterus, prevent low back pain and improve posture. Many people don’t realize it, but core strengthening also helps pregnant women during the pushing phase of delivery.

Prenatal Pilates instructors are in a great position to help pregnant women obtain the strength for pushing as well as to educate women on how to push properly. I’ll explain how after the jump.

By Debbi Goodman, MSPT

The postpartum time period is very exciting for most women, but it can be very stressful as well. Women are going through the process of healing their bodies after the birth, dealing with drastic hormonal changes, and adjusting to life with a newborn. Most women are physically exhausted and may have extreme emotional swings. Regaining their prepregnancy body is often a main concern.

In order to work with postpartum clients, Pilates instructors should have knowledge about the physical transformations of pregnancy and how they impact the musculoskeletal system.* It is common knowledge that the abdominal muscles stretch a great deal over the course of the pregnancy, and it is our challenge to help women restore the proper length, strength and tone of these extremely important muscles.

6 Essential Moves for Postpartum Health

Dawn-Marie Ickes, MPT, is a partner in the Los Angeles studio Core Conditioning, which offers Pilates, Gyrotonic and physical therapy at Burbank and Studio City locations. Ickes has lectured nationally on Pilates and is on the Board of Directors of the Pilates Method Alliance. She is often noted for her work with pregnant women and new mothers. Here, Ickes shares her approach to training women who have recently given birth.

By Dawn-Marie Ickes

Many women will spend hours each week exercising their legs and abdominal muscles in an effort to “get their pre-pregnancy body back.” The most crucial component of ANY sort of exercise in this immediate postpartum period is restoring the normal function of the pelvic floor muscles and integrating the core muscles. Women are very adept at identifying the changes in sensation and strength in their abdominal muscles following birth, yet few are able to tell or even consider how their pelvic floor and other core muscles have been affected by 9 months of pregnancy and a delivery.