Your guide to moving safely and confidently through pregnancy – trimester by trimester.

Pregnancy (and motherhood!) is one long, wonderful lesson in adaptation. Your body is changing week by week, and so is the way you should move it. If you’ve ever finished a workout wondering “was that actually okay for me to do?”, you are not alone, and you’re in exactly the right place.

At Centred Mums, we support women through pregnancy exercise every single day, whether that’s in our prenatal Pilates classes in St Albans or through our online programmes. Here’s a friendly, trimester-by-trimester guide to what typically changes in your body and how to modify your movement to match it.

First Trimester (Weeks 1–12): Listen More Than You Push

The first trimester is often the most deceptive one, because on the outside very little has changed – but on the inside, everything has. Hormones like relaxin and progesterone are already beginning to rise, energy levels can dip dramatically, and nausea or fatigue may make even your usual routine feel like a big ask.

What’s changing:

• Fatigue and morning sickness are common and very real
• Your abdominals are working hard to protect a rapidly developing baby
• Blood volume is increasing, which can affect stamina

What to modify:

• Give yourself permission to slow down or take rest days – this is not the time to chase personal bests
• Avoid overheating; keep workouts at a comfortable intensity and stay hydrated
• Start paying attention to your breath and pelvic floor connection now, so it becomes second nature later
• If you’re new to exercise, prenatal Pilates is a gentle, safe way to begin building strength from the ground up
• If you’re already exercising you can continue with your usual routine (unless it involves overheating in something like hot yoga) but listen to your body – if you feel like you need to take a step back then do!

Second Trimester (Weeks 13–27): The Sweet Spot — With a Few New Considerations

Many women feel their best during the second trimester – nausea eases, energy returns, and the bump is visible but not yet restrictive. It’s a great window to build strength and flexibility, but your body is quietly shifting in ways that matter for how you move.

What’s changing:

• Your growing bump shifts your centre of gravity, affecting balance and posture
•  Relaxin continues to loosen ligaments around your joints and pelvis
• The abdominal wall begins to stretch, and some women notice the first signs of abdominal separation (diastasis recti)

What to modify:

• From around 16 weeks, avoid lying flat on your back for extended periods – try semi-reclined or side-lying positions instead
• Steer clear of exercises that create excessive doming or bulging through the midline; this is where pregnancy-specific Pilates really earns its keep, teaching you how to work your core without straining it
• Be cautious with deep twisting or high-impact movements as your joints become more mobile
• Focus on pelvic floor and deep abdominal connection – this is the foundation for a smoother birth and postnatal recovery

Third Trimester (Weeks 28–40+): Preparing the Body for Birth

As your due date approaches, movement becomes less about building and more about preparing, releasing tension, and staying comfortable.

What’s changing:

• Your bump is now significantly affecting your posture, balance and breathing capacity
• The pelvic floor is under increasing pressure as baby grows and descends
• Ligament laxity is at its highest, and many women feel achy hips, backs and pelvises

What to modify:

• Prioritise pelvic floor relaxation as much as strengthening – an overly tense pelvic floor can make your birth more difficult
• Slow down; wide, controlled movements are more suitable than fast or ballistic ones
• Use props and modifications generously – this is exactly what a specialist prenatal Pilates teacher can support you with
• Keep breathing at the centre of every session; it connects you to your body and calms your nervous system ahead of birth

The Golden Rule Through Every Trimester

Whatever stage you’re at, the same principle holds true: **your body is not the same body you exercised in last month, so don’t expect it to move the same way.** Pregnancy exercise isn’t about pushing through, it’s about tuning in.

This is exactly why generic workouts don’t always serve pregnant bodies well, and why pregnancy-specific movement matters so much. At Centred Mums, every class is designed around what your body actually needs – supporting your pelvic floor, protecting your abdominal muscles, and helping you feel strong, capable and connected right through to birth and beyond.

Ready to move through your pregnancy with confidence? Explore our Pregnancy Pilates classes in St Albans or get in touch to find the right fit for you — nothing is TMI.

One of the most-asked postnatal questions!

If you’ve been Googling “when can I start exercising after birth” at 2am during a feed, first of all – hello, I see you, and welcome. This is one of the questions I get asked most often at Centred Mums, and the honest answer is: it depends on you, your birth, and your body but there’s a gentle, supportive path to get you there safely.

There’s No Single Magic Date

You may have heard “wait until your 8-week check” and that’s a sensible general guideline, especially as a green light from your GP or midwife that nothing needs further investigation. But your 6-week check is a starting point for a conversation, not a starting gun for a 5k. Every postnatal body is recovering from something significant, whether that was a straightforward vaginal delivery, an assisted delivery, or a caesarean birth, and each of these comes with its own healing timeline.

What’s Actually Healing After Birth

However you gave birth, a huge amount of internal healing is happening that you can’t see:

Your pelvic floor has supported the weight of a full-term pregnancy and, if you had a vaginal delivery, has been significantly stretched (and possibly torn or grazed) during birth

Your abdominal muscles have separated to accommodate your growing baby and need time and the right kind of movement to reconnect

If you had a caesarean, you’re recovering from major abdominal surgery, and your scar tissue needs time to heal and regain mobility

Your ligaments and joints are still under the influence of pregnancy hormones for some time after birth, particularly if breastfeeding

This is exactly why returning to exercise isn’t about waiting for a specific week number and then leaping back into your pre-baby routine — it’s about rebuilding from the inside out.

A Gentle Roadmap

In the very early days (week 1 onwards)

Gentle walking and simple breathing and pelvic floor reconnection exercises are usually appropriate for most women, as guided by your midwife or a postnatal specialist. This is about reconnecting, not training.

From around 6 weeks (with the go-ahead from your GP).

This is often when women can begin more structured postnatal-specific movement — think gentle abdominal and pelvic floor rehabilitation, not high-intensity workouts. A specialist postnatal Pilates class is one of the best places to start, because it’s designed specifically to rebuild deep abdominal and pelvic floor strength progressively and safely.

From 3 months onwards

For many women, this is when higher-impact activities like running CAN start to be reintroduced — but only once you’ve built a solid foundation of core and pelvic floor strength, and ideally after being assessed by a pelvic health professional. Returning to running too soon, before your pelvic floor and core can properly support the impact, is one of the most common causes of ongoing symptoms like leaking or heaviness down the line.

My honest advice is that unless you have been REALLY on top of your rehabilitation and were already really strong beforehand, three months is too early to be doing high impact exercise. I tend to think that a realistic timeframe for most people is closer to six months because then your body has had longer to heal and you have had more time to do the ground work in strengthening yourself.

Recovery isn’t linear, and it isn’t the same for everyone. Some women need longer before impact exercise feels right for their body, and that’s completely okay.

The Signs to Watch For

Whatever stage you’re at, these are signals that you may be doing too much, too soon:

• Leaking during or after exercise
• A feeling of heaviness, dragging or bulging in the pelvis
• Doming or bulging through your abdomen
• Ongoing back, hip or pelvic pain
• Increased bleeding after exercise (postnatally)

None of these mean something is “wrong” with you – they mean your body is asking you to build your foundation a little more before adding load but they are all worth seeking support from a specialist physio to help you work correctly.

Why Postnatal-Specific Pilates Matters

This is where Centred Mums comes in. Postnatal Pilates isn’t the same as general fitness – it’s a specific, progressive process of reconnecting to your breath, rebuilding your deep abdominals and pelvic floor, closing abdominal separation, and gradually reintroducing load in a way your body can actually handle. It’s the bridge between “cleared to exercise” and “ready for high impact” and it makes all the difference to how you feel, both now and for years to come.

You don’t have to figure this out alone, and you certainly don’t have to just accept leaking, heaviness or pain as the new normal.

Ready to start your postnatal recovery the right way?

Explore our Pilates for New Mums classes in St Albans  or get in touch  – we’d love to support you.

 

It’s so important to understand that “normal” and “common” are not the same thing.

Let’s start with something I say to every single mum who walks into my classes, or joins online: you are not being dramatic, and you are not alone. Pelvic floor dysfunction is incredibly common — but that doesn’t mean it should be accepted as an unavoidable part of motherhood or ageing.

So many women live with symptoms for years, quietly adjusting their lives around them, before ever seeking help. In fact, research shows women wait an average of 6.5 years after symptoms begin before speaking to a healthcare professional. That’s a long time to be managing something on your own that could be improved so much sooner.

Here are the signs of pelvic floor dysfunction that are far too often brushed off as “just part of being a mum.”

The “Just in Case” Wee

If you find yourself popping to the toilet before every car journey, every exercise class, or every time you leave the house “just in case”, this can be a sign that your bladder and pelvic floor aren’t communicating quite as well as they should. It’s so normalised that most women don’t even flag it as a symptom, but it’s worth paying attention to.

Leaking When You Laugh, Cough, Sneeze or Jump

This is probably the most well-known sign of pelvic floor weakness, and yet it remains one of the most under-reported. Whether it’s a small leak on the trampoline with your kids or needing to cross your legs before a big sneeze, stress urinary incontinence is not something you have to live with – and it’s very responsive to the right kind of pelvic floor and core work.

A Feeling of Heaviness or “Something Coming Down”

A dragging, heavy sensation in the pelvis, particularly by the end of the day or after standing for a while, can be a sign of pelvic organ prolapse. This one is especially easy to dismiss because it can be subtle at first, or mistaken for general tiredness. Around 50% of women who have had a vaginal delivery will experience some degree of prolapse by the time they’re over 50, though only a fraction have noticeable symptoms, which is exactly why getting ahead of pelvic floor health matters so much.

Ongoing Lower Back, Hip or Pelvic Pain

We tend to treat back and hip pain as separate from pelvic floor health, but they’re deeply connected. Your pelvic floor is an integral part of your whole system, working together with your deep abdominals, diaphragm and back muscles. When one part of that system isn’t functioning well, the others often compensate – and pain is frequently the result.

Discomfort or Pain During Intimacy

This is one of the symptoms women are least likely to mention, even to their doctor, yet it’s a real sign that your pelvic floor may be too tight, too weak, or not coordinating properly. There is no need to suffer in silence with this one – it’s a completely valid and common reason to seek support.

A Gap or Doming Through Your Abdomen

If you notice your tummy doming or bulging when you sit up, lift something, or do a plank, or you can feel a gap through the midline of your stomach, this may indicate diastasis recti (abdominal separation). It’s closely linked to pelvic floor function, since your deep core and pelvic floor work as a single connected unit.

Constipation, Straining, or Feeling Like You Haven’t Fully Emptied Your Bladder or Bowel

Bowel and bladder symptoms are just as much a part of pelvic floor health as leaking is, but they’re rarely talked about. Straining, urgency, or a sense of incomplete emptying are all worth mentioning to a pelvic health professional.

Why These Signs Get Ignored

Part of the problem is cultural – jokes about “leaking when you laugh” have almost become a punchline about motherhood, rather than a red flag. The other part is access: many women simply don’t know where to start, or assume nothing can be done without surgery or invasive treatment. Neither of these things is true.

You Don’t Have to Live With It

The pelvic floor is a muscle group, and like any muscle group, it responds to the right kind of targeted, progressive training. This is at the very heart of what I do at Centred Mums – helping women reconnect with their pelvic floor and core, address leaks and heaviness, close abdominal separation, and move through motherhood (and beyond) without pain or worry holding them back.

The best first step is to see a women’s health physio or osteopath to find out exactly what is happening in your pelvic floor and then I can support you with the movement you need to address your symptoms and feel better in your body.

If any of these signs sound familiar, please know that reaching out is the first and most powerful step. **Nothing is TMI here.**

Explore our in-person Pilates classes in St Albans, join The Centred Mums Collective online, or grab our free pelvic floor health download to get started today.