The Best Yoga Poses for Pregnancy, Labor, & Birth

Yoga is a game changer in regular life. I can’t sing its praises enough! But it’s another level of awesomeness  and preparation for labor when you’re pregnant.

Prenatal yoga isn’t just about fitness (although, it is good exercise for you), it’s a way to prepare your physical body for birth as well as preparing your mind to not fight when things get uncomfortable. It helps you to slow down those racing thoughts; it teaches you to lean in when things get hard.

It is a way to connect more with your body and your baby during this special window of time that’s here and gone so quickly. Pregnant women are in their cocoon and will emerge transformed into something completely different—still themselves, but forever changed. Honor your body, honor your baby. Prepare for your birth inside and out! I promise it’ll all pay off.

!ALERT! reports of a meta-analysis by multiple institutions revealed that women who practice yoga during pregnancy experienced up to two hours of shorter labor and were 2.5 times more likely to have a vaginal birth.

These women also had comparatively higher comfort levels than those who did not do yoga (Boopalan et al. 2023; Corrigan et al. 2022).

My Yoga Journey In Annapolis

I was very shy about physical stuff growing up. I was raised with three brothers who I always felt in competition with (in a friendly borderline toxic way), but it got old quick when they always beat me at stuff. So I stopped trying for a long time (which was no good and self destructive, and I am so much nicer to myself now).  

But in March 2020, when I had two under two and was losing my mind from Covid isolation, I gave yoga a shot. Yoga With Adrienne on YouTube got me started.

I’m so eternally grateful I gave it a try and stuck with it. At first, I fit it in when my girlies were napping at the same time. Those 20-40 minutes of yoga were like coming up for a breath out of the depths of the dark water of stay-at-home-motherhood. I didn’t expect motherhood, with its constant touching and constantly-being-with-another-little-baby to be so… lonely. Yoga, even at home, made me feel less lonely. I guess I started to make friends with myself in a way I hadn’t been before. Yoga helped me to be more kind with how I talked to myself. If I lost my balance in tree pose, I would say ‘oh that’s ok. Trees blow in the wind’ instead of being annoyed with myself for not getting it right.

I did not do yoga when I was pregnant with either of my babies and it makes me wonder what my first birth could have been like if I had. During my first pregnancy, I went a little overboard being hungry and gained about 60 pounds. Somehow, beautifully, I had never loved my body as much as I did during my full bloom pregnancy stage. I loved that belly bump and wearing clothes that snuggled me up. However, I definitely didn’t move enough during my pregnancy to get me ready for the demands of labor. I was teaching English at the Army War College in Carlise, PA until the week before she made her appearance Earthside. So I was walking a lot, but not as much as I encourage my clients to walk.

Walking is so great for pregnancy because it builds up your cardiovascular system to get ready for the demands of labor. 

With my first birth, what I was fighting was exhaustion. I didn’t sleep well the night before real labor kicked in. My baby also wasn’t in the best position (she was born sunny side up) and I never felt a single contraction in my belly—it was all in my tailbone and sacrum. I was absolutely exhausted after 10 hours of back labor with contractions three minutes apart for most of those 10 hours. Getting an epidural was the absolute right decision-13 hours later, she came out starring into my eyes when my midwife said “reach down and grab your baby.” Catching her after my labor didn’t go exactly as planned was incredibly healing. For the next baby, I knew I needed to move more, practice my HypnoBirthing scripts more, and do Spinning Babies exercises to get the next one in the best position possible. Spoiler Alert: it worked and my labor was so quick that she decided to come in the car!

When I got into yoga after my pregnancies, I learned about the power of moving my body and feeling how strong I could be. I learned how it’s an amazing moving mindfulness practice to give myself peace.

The thing with labor is that it is one of the few times as an adult where it forces you to be completely in the moment. One contraction at a time. You can do anything for one minute.

When I started doing yoga, it made me be completely in the moment. I couldn’t think about what to cook for dinner, how much laundry there was left to fold, if we had enough toilet paper (covid times were literally insane)—I was forced to focus on how to move my body and breathe paired at the right time during the movements.

Labor is like that. You need to know how to breathe with your movements—these could be movements like the right time to lunge in and out of a contraction or how to breathe when pushing and moving your body around your baby as they come down and out.

See my last post on Pranayama Ujjayi breath for more on that!

At some point in my life, I’ll take the 200 hour yoga teacher training and be teaching prenatal yoga to all of you (I hope!). Until then, I’ve have many conversations with my yoga teachers and different pelvic floor therapists in the Annapolis area to see what yoga poses will best prepare you for birth. I’ll break down the following poses and explain what muscle groups they help and why they matter for your birth.

A pelvis that moves in pregnancy is going to be a pelvis that moves during labor. We need you to be able to move your body to help move your baby Earthside. You can do it!

IMPORTANT: Whether you are continuing to practice, or just starting out, be sure to discuss your exercise program with your provider.

1. Cat/Cow Poses with attention on the pelvis (Bitilasana Marjaryasana)

Image: Utah Prenatal Yoga. Woman doing cat/cow for pregnancy.

Cat and Cow are paired together because they are the ying and yang of yoga. For a pregnant person, it will look less like a backbend- focus more on the pelvis and be careful not to cause excessive strain on the front abdominal muscles (increasing the chance for diastasis recti). Instead, tilt the pelvis forward while gently hugging baby in.

 How to do it:

1. When you are on all fours, hands under shoulders and knees under hips, inhale and tilt your pelvis towards your wrists (forward), feeling the sitz bones spread, direct your eyes to where the ceiling and the wall meet.

   Note: If you’re in your third trimester, try a more neutral spine (instead of the traditional low hanging belly).

2. Exhale and move into cat, arching your back like a Halloween cat, pushing the floor away from you and tucking your pelvis under, and curling your head to look at your knees. Inhale and move into cow, exhale and move into cat. Slowly, breath to movement. Repeat 10 times.

Why does this help?

Pelvic tilting is excellent for pregnancy. Moving that pelvis around is the key to having a successful vaginal birth. It can also help with lower back discomfort throughout pregnancy.

As your belly grows and stretches, it can put more strain on your lower back, especially if you have an anterior pelvic tilt (which a lot of women develop during pregnancy). An anterior pelvic tilt can cause tightness in your hip flexors and weaken your glutes.  

Maintaining a neutral pelvis will help keep everything aligned and pain free, as well as helping your baby to get in the most optimal position before birth to ensure a smooth labor.

Cat/cow stretches your lower back, moves your pelvis and tailbone, and helps you learn how to breath through the movements. It’s a great stretch for pain relief.

2. Psoas Stretch- Low Lunge (Anjaneyasana)

Image: Body By Yoga.

How to do it:

1. From Downward-Facing Dog, exhale and step your right foot forward between your hands, aligning the right knee over the heel. Then lower your left knee to the floor and, keeping the right knee fixed in place, slide the left knee back until you feel a comfortable stretch in the left front thigh and groin. Turn the top of your left foot to the floor.

2. Inhale and lift your torso to upright. As you do, sweep your arms out to the sides and up, perpendicular to the floor. Draw the tailbone down toward the floor and lift your pubic bone toward your navel. Lift your chest from the firmness of your shoulder blades against the back torso. Don’t spill your belly forward!

3. Continue looking forward. Reach your pinkies toward the ceiling. Hold for a minute, exhale your torso back to the right thigh and your hands to the floor, and turn your back toes under. With another exhale, lift your left knee off the floor and step back downward dog. Repeat with the left foot forward for the same length of time.

Why does this help?

The psoas is the deepest hip flexor in your body. My friend, the psoas is all over your pelvis. This muscle is honestly incredible. It affects our posture and balance; it helps us walk and bend our hips. It’s also connected to our diaphragms and our pelvic floor muscles.

Image: Prenatal Yoga Center. The psoas muscle.

 Psoas I was saying….

 During pregnancy, the psoas can have an effect on the descent of the baby and even fetal position. When it’s shortened due to being tight, it can throw the pelvis out of alignment. Even a tiny misalignment can affect baby’s position. They could prefer the left side if you cross your legs on the left more than the right (stretching the left more than the right, giving baby more room on that side). That in itself isn’t necessarily problematic, but it could be if baby is facing oddly and comes down asynclitic with a kink in their neck, making it harder to come down the birth canal.

Image: Spinning Babies. Drawing of the psoas.

 A shortened or chronically contracted psoas can lead to pain in the hips, groin, knees, or back, as well as leaving the muscles surrounding the pelvis weakened. The psoas is then recruited to do the jobs of those weak muscles, leaving it tight, tense, and exhausted.

Basically, this muscle is amazing and we want it to function optimally. There are many different psoas stretches in yoga, but I do love the low lunge.

3. Happy Baby Pose (Ananda Balasana)

Image: Mama Space Yoga. Pregnant woman doing happy baby pose.

How to do it:

1. Lie down on your back with your sacrum connected to the floor.

2. On an inhalation with bent knees, lift the legs and point the soles of your feet towards the ceiling.

3. Keeping your head and neck on the floor, reach for the outsides of your feet. You can bend your legs as much as necessary and breathe steadily in and out through the nose.

4. Keep your tailbone and lower back, as well as your head and neck connect to the floor.

5. Optional: Bend and straighten one leg at a time (also called Peter Pan pose) or roll side to side to gentle massage the lower back.

Why does this help?

Happy Baby Pose Variation stretches the groin, adductors (inner thighs), knees, glutes, and the piriformis muscle. It strengthens the knees, pelvic floor and the psoas. As the hip flexor muscles loosen up, one can lengthen and decompress the spine as well.

All key to stretch and strengthen for a smooth birth.

4. Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II)

Image: Kilila. Pregnant woman doing Warrior II.

How to do it:

1. From standing, step left foot back and turn toes out to the left slightly.

2. Align the inside of left foot so it’s in line with right heel.

3. Open your hips to face the side.

4. Raise your arms to be parallel to the floor, with palms facing down.

5. Bend right knee, making sure it doesn’t extend past your ankle.

6. Gaze over your front middle finger.

7. Hold this pose for 30 seconds.

8. Repeat on the other side.

Why does this help?

This one is such good practice for lunging in and out of contractions, both to bring on labor later in your pregnancy (to move your baby down like in the Mile Circuit) and to use during labor to help things progress.

IDEALLY, there won’t be many new moves we ask you to do while you’re birthing. The more you can move your body before the birth, the easier it’ll be to move your body during birth.

Lunging positions are key when baby is in the mid-pelvis and moving down. Asymmetrical moves will help baby to turn and move down into the pelvic outlet.

Remember to move with your breath. You can do a reverse warrior and come in and out of this pose. You can straighten the front leg to shift into the next pose:

5. Triangle pose (Trikonasana)

How to do it:

If going into this from Warrior II, just straighten the front foot, move the back foot in closer a few inches and hinge at the hips to bring your right arm down by your ankle and left arm up in line with each other.

Picture: Ekamyago_online. Triangle pose.

How to do it:

1. At the top of your mat, step your left foot back.

2. Pivot in your left foot; turn out your right foot 90 degrees. Right foot should be directly in line with the middle of the left foot.

3. Press into your outer left heel. Reach your right hand to the floor and left hand to the ceiling.

4. Press into your inner right foot. Turn your right thigh outward.

5. Press into your outer left heel. Turn your left thigh outward.

6. Reach your arms apart.

7. Turn your navel and chest upwards. Gaze up at your top thumb.

8. To exit the first side: Press into your outer left heel. Pull up with your top arm to come to standing. Turn your feet forward.

9. Repeat on the second side.

Why does this help?

Trikonasana helps to stretch and strengthen the legs, hips, spine, and chest. This can be particularly helpful during pregnancy to alleviate discomfort and maintain flexibility. It also helps to open your hips and is a QL (Quadratus Lumborum) stretch, releasing tension in the lower back, which can become tight as your belly grows.

Image: Rejuvenation Movement Method.

6. Butterfly Pose (Baddha Konasana)

Image: The Art of Living. Pregnant woman in Butterfly Pose.

How to do it:

1. Sit on the ground with your spine straight and your legs extended in front of you. Bend your knees and bring the soles of your feet together. If this is hard, you can put a yoga block or bolster under your butt. Try it! See if that frees up your hips more.

2. Use your hands to hold onto your ankles or feet.

3. Gently press down on your thighs, bringing them closer to the ground.

4. You should feel a stretch in your inner thighs and groin area.

5. Hold this pose for 30 seconds to one minute and then release.

6. Repeat two to three times.

Why does it help?

Butterfly Pose is a hip opener that stretches the inner thighs and can help relieve pain in the lower back. It creates space around the pelvis, opens and stretches the hip joints, and helps reduce compression in the lower back.

Go slow though because you don’t want to overdo any of the poses. Especially as you get more pregnant, the hormone relaxin is flowing through your body—this relaxes the ligaments and joints of your pelvis for an easier birth, but it doesn’t ONLY relax the pelvic joints. It relaxes everything. So try it with a block under your butt. And go slow!

7. Child’s Pose (Balasana)

Image: The Vag Whisperer. Pregnant woman doing modified Child’s Pose.

How to do it:

Depending on your trimester, you can do closed knee or open knee child’s pose—both work to stretch and open the hips

1. Begin by kneeling down on a yoga mat and be seated on your heels.

2. Let the top of your feet fall flat on the mat and make your two big toes touch each other.

3. Once you get comfortable in this position, widen your hips and bend down slowly, making your forehead touch the mat. As you do this, you will be able to feel the weight shifting from your hip bones, relieving them of the pressure.

4. If you feel comfortable, you can extend your hands above your head and relax.

Why does this help?

This position opens the pelvic outlet from front to back (pubic joint to tailbone) so it’s a great pushing position. You can do this on a mat on the floor, on a bed with the back raised, arms on a birth ball, or in the birth pool.

8. Seated Side Bend (Parsva Sukhasana)

Image: Rishikul Yoga. Pregnant woman doing Seated Side Bend Pose.

How to do it:

1. Sit comfortably on the floor in an upright seated position. Bring your right leg out with your left foot on your right inner thigh.

2. Let your right-hand rest on the floor.

3. Lift your left arm up and then gently bend toward your right. Keep your chest forward and look toward your left hand. If you need more support while bending, lower your right forearm on the ground. Hold 30 seconds.

4. Switch sides and repeat.

Why does this help?

Side Bends primarily target the external obliques, but also engage the internal obliques and quadratus lumborum. All muscles that should be stretched and given some love when your belly is growing and expanding. This should leave you feeling so good.

Bonus Pose: Legs-Up-the-Wall (Viparita Karani)

Image: Toronto Yoga Mamas. Pregnant woman doing Legs Up The Wall Pose.

How to do it:

1. Simply sit down facing a wall, lift your feet up, and wiggle worm your bottom closer to the wall so your legs can be fully supported.

2. Stay at least 5 minutes, breathe, and relax every part of your body. Enjoy the quiet and stillness.

If you’re feeling like it would be nice, open your legs wide and let gravity gently help relax everything open. Help your legs close back up using your hands.

This pose is specifically helpful in alleviating swelling in your feet and ankles, reset your nervous system and is restorative.

These poses are only a starting point. There are so many more amazing prenatal yoga poses that you should give a try.

The only yoga studio in the area offering in person prenatal classes regularly is Blue Lotus in Annapolis. However, there are gentle yoga class offerings and instructors can be asked to make modifications to accommodate any pregnant people in the class. So don’t let the name of a class stop you! Reach out if you need any YouTube recommendations for yoga. I’m always happy to talk yoga or birth!

Sources: 

Boopalan, D., Vijayakumar, V., Ravi, P., Shanmugam, P., Kunjumon, B., & Kuppusamy, M. (2023, July 5). Effectiveness of antenatal yoga in reducing intensity of labour pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis. European journal of obstetrics & gynecology and reproductive biology: X.

Corrigan, L., Moran, P., McGrath, N., Eustace-Cook, J., & Daly, D. (2022, March 25). The characteristics and effectiveness of pregnancy yoga interventions: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC pregnancy and childbirth. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8957136/