Six-week pregnancy courses, a postnatal class with the baby, and teachers trained for both
Pregnancy and postnatal
Pregnancy yoga as a six-week course from fourteen weeks, with the same group each week and a teacher trained in pregnancy and birth; and a postnatal Pilates class after the six-week check where the baby comes too and nobody minds the noise. Nia teaches both.
Pregnancy classes are a course rather than a drop-in because the group matters: the same eight women for six weeks, the same teacher, and a conversation at the start of each class that is half the point. Postnatal classes are a drop-in because nobody with a new baby can promise to be anywhere at a set time six weeks running.
The pregnancy course runs on Monday evenings and Saturday mornings, six weeks, from fourteen weeks of pregnancy to the end, with women joining whenever a course starts (about every seven weeks). Nia trained with a specialist pregnancy yoga school and with a midwife, and the classes cover breathing for labour, positions that help, the pelvic floor, and a great deal of lying on bolsters. Partners are welcome at the fifth week, which is the birth-preparation session. If you have a complication, bring a note from your midwife and we adapt.
Postnatal Pilates is on Wednesday and Friday mornings at 10:30, after your six-week check (twelve after a caesarean), with the baby on a mat beside you, in a sling, or being fed; the class carries on and nobody minds. It rebuilds the deep abdominals and the pelvic floor gently and correctly, which the leaflet from the hospital does not, and it is where most of our mother-and-baby friendships began. Prams fit in the hall; there is a changing table and a kettle.
What is included
- Six-week pregnancy course, from fourteen weeks
- Same group, same teacher, a conversation each week
- Birth preparation with partners in week five
- Postnatal Pilates with the baby, twice a week
- Nia trained in pregnancy yoga and with a midwife
- Prams, changing table, kettle, no shushing
What it costs
The pregnancy course is £78 for six weeks. Postnatal Pilates is a normal mat class on any pass, £8 for the first. Babies are free. The schedule page has every class, the levels explained, every pass and every price. Mats and props are provided.
Questions about pregnancy
Can I do normal classes while pregnant?
Gentle hatha and yin, yes, with a word to the teacher, up to about thirty weeks; strong classes and the reformer, no. The course is better because it is built for it, but if the dates do not work, say so.
When can I come back after the birth?
After the six-week check for a straightforward birth, twelve weeks after a caesarean, and with your GP's or midwife's okay. Postnatal Pilates first; the other classes when you feel ready, which Nia will help you judge.
Your first class is £8. Read the first-visit page, then come.
Any gentle or open mat class, mats and props provided, the teacher told you are new, and the kinder version of every pose offered without being asked. Book in the app, send the form, or walk in ten minutes early; the desk is open half an hour before each class.