Yoga for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond

A practical, step-by-step photographic guide to yoga poses specifically chosen to support you safely through pregnancy and the first months following the birth. Yoga is more important during pregnancy than at any other time of your life. As your body becomes unfamiliar to you from trimester to trimester and as labour approaches, you need safe, strengthening, and supportive sequences to guide you on your journey. This book gives you step-by-step yoga postures specially adapted for each trimester, and relaxation techniques and simple breathing exercises will show you how to adjust to the physical demands of labour and give birth with confidence. From conception to birth, help develop shared wellbeing and continue to reap the benefits of yoga after the birth as you bond with your new baby and regain your shape.

Françoise Barbira Freedman, PhD, is a medical anthropologist at Cambridge University, England. An adept of yoga, she has used both her life experience as a mother of four and her academic training and research to develop her original approach to antenatal and postnatal holistic care. Françoise has been a trainer for the UK-based Yoga Biomedical Trust's Yoga Therapist Diploma since 1994. She is a member of the Board of Yoga Therapists and she also lectures at midwifery schools. In 1990 Françoise founded the charity Birthlight, which is dedicated to promoting a sensitive approach to pregnancy, birth, and babies. She is the author of eight books.