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.

Pelvic Girdle Pain is a very common condition in pregnancy and there is lots that can be done to treat it. Seeing a specialist osteopath can be really helpful and doing Pilates can help support your pelvis better to reduce and even get rid of the pain it causes. For many women, the pain eases once their baby has arrived but unfortunately sometimes pelvic girdle pain continues after pregnancy, which can be very frustrating.

What is Pelvic Girdle Pain?

Pelvic Girdle Pain is usually a mechanical issue and is usually caused by a misalignment in the pelvis or elsewhere in the body. From the way that our feet function and support us all the way up to the way our head sits on top of our neck, everything is linked and it is important to address any pain as a full body issue. The hormonal changes of pregnancy, alongside the weight of the growing baby and the way the body needs to accommodate for this, can make it worse but by addressing the imbalances and creating more space and strength throughout the body you can make huge steps to easing the pain.

If it continues after your baby has been born the same thing applies – your body continues to accommodate huge shifts and changes alongside lack of sleep, the physical demands of caring for a new born and the stress that being a new parent can create…it’s a lot!

While Pilates can make a HUGE difference to pain like this, it is really important to do this alongside a healthcare professional and with this condition my go-to would always be an osteopath. You can find a list of recommended professionals who work with this condition at the Pelvic Partnership, which is also an excellent resource for PGP in general.

How To Relieve Pelvic Girdle Pain – Our 6 Top Tips:

Looking at the balance throughout your body can really help and here are some top tips for rehabilitating your body when you have PGP postnatally.

1. Look at the way you carry your baby (and especially older children if you have them) – try to avoid hip carrying or throwing your pelvis into positions that cause any torsion. Trying to keep your weight equal between your legs can help your pelvis to balance better.

2. Be aware of your pelvis when you are sitting – try not to sit with your legs crossed or at funny angles and this can aggravate any pain you are experiencing.

3. Start to build strength – obviously in the early days postnatally you shouldn’t be doing any formal exercise but doing pelvic floor exercises and breathing to engage your core is a great way to start switching on the muscles you need to support you in the long term. When you are feeling better, gentle pelvic rocks and bridges on two feet, again being aware of having equal weight in the legs will help to build your glut strength which will stabilise your pelvis.

4. Find balance in your body – don’t open the legs too wide in a thoughtless way but do keep the inner thighs mobile with gentle stretches to help avoid pulls in the pelvis. If it causes any pain then don’t do it but gentle inner thigh stretches that don’t cause pain are a good way to release muscles that could be pulling on your pubic bone. Gentle side bends are also a good way to release muscles that could be pulling on your pelvis but always avoid any movement that causes pain.

5. Ice the areas of pain – as mentioned above, PGP can cause inflammation and icing can help to reduce this and ease the discomfort.

6. Address inflammation in your body – look at whether you are eating inflammatory food in your diet and research non-inflammatory food such as turmeric and omega 3 fatty acids.

Pilates For Pelvic Girdle Pain

Despite the mystery that often shrouds PGP, there is so much you can do to help make the pain or discomfort much more manageable. Some one to one Pilates can work wonders, especially alongside osteopathy. You may like to look into our Postnatal Package for more assistance with this.