She’s 38 Weeks Pregnant and Taught a Class This Morning: Here’s What Yoga Actually Does for the Pregnant Body
There is a woman teaching yoga at Raw Power Yoga in Albion this week who is two weeks away from giving birth.
Her name is Amanda Best.
She is one of our teachers, and she has practised and taught yoga through every trimester of her pregnancy.
At 38 weeks pregnant, she is still guiding students through breath, movement and the kind of body awareness that becomes increasingly important as pregnancy progresses.
We are not telling you this simply because it is impressive.
We are telling you because Amanda’s experience raises one of the questions we hear regularly from pregnant women at our studio:
Is yoga safe during pregnancy, and is it actually worth doing?
Amanda’s experience shows what an appropriately modified yoga practice can look like late in pregnancy. But one person’s experience is not medical evidence, so it is important to look at what the research actually says as well.
Yoga During Pregnancy: What Changes Through Each Trimester?
Pregnancy is not one single physical experience. The demands on the body change substantially from the first trimester through to the third, which means a yoga practice should change with it.
First Trimester: Fatigue, Nausea and Adjustment
During the first trimester, fatigue and nausea can be significant, even before there are obvious physical changes.
This is often a time when intensity needs to be adjusted according to how the person actually feels rather than according to what they were capable of before pregnancy.
Gentle movement, breathing practices and periods of relaxation can provide a lower-intensity way to stay active while developing awareness of how the body is responding to pregnancy.
Pregnancy is highly individual, so anyone who is pregnant should speak with their doctor, midwife or other maternity-care professional about what exercise is appropriate for them.
Second Trimester: Posture, Mobility and a Changing Centre of Gravity
As pregnancy progresses, the body’s centre of gravity changes and increasing abdominal weight can alter posture and the way the hips, pelvis and spine are loaded.
A well-modified yoga practice can include controlled mobility, strength, balance and breathing without treating flexibility as the goal.
This is particularly important because pregnancy hormones can increase joint laxity. More range of motion is not necessarily better, and pregnant students should avoid aggressively forcing stretches simply because positions feel more accessible.
Pelvic-floor awareness can also become increasingly relevant. The pelvic floor needs both the ability to generate tension and the ability to relax, so pregnancy practice should not simply be about constantly contracting these muscles.
Third Trimester: Supporting a Body Under Greater Load
The third trimester is where Amanda is right now.
By this stage, increased body weight, changes in balance, a growing abdomen and greater demands on the hips, pelvis and lower back can make normal movement feel very different.
Many pregnant women also experience disrupted sleep, breathlessness, pelvic pressure, swelling or discomfort as pregnancy progresses.
Yoga does not eliminate the physical demands of late pregnancy, but appropriately modified movement and breathing may provide a useful way to remain active, maintain body awareness and manage some aspects of discomfort.
What Does the Research Say About Prenatal Yoga?
Research into yoga during pregnancy has examined outcomes including labour pain, anxiety, birth outcomes and psychological wellbeing.
The evidence is promising, but it is important not to turn promising research into guarantees.
Yoga and Labour Pain
A systematic review and meta-analysis published in 2023 examined eight randomised controlled trials involving 576 pregnant women.
The analysis found that antenatal yoga was associated with lower labour-pain intensity. However, there was considerable variation between the studies, and the researchers called for larger, higher-quality trials.
Read the systematic review and meta-analysis on antenatal yoga and labour pain.
A 2025 Randomised Controlled Trial
A randomised controlled trial published in the Journal of Perinatal Medicine included 214 first-time mothers with singleton pregnancies.
Participants in the yoga group completed twelve supervised 90-minute yoga sessions.
Compared with standard obstetric care, the yoga group experienced lower labour-pain intensity, fewer caesarean sections occurring during labour and a higher rate of spontaneous vaginal birth. The study found no difference in requests for epidural analgesia.
Those findings are encouraging, but they come from one specific study population and should not be interpreted as a guarantee that yoga will produce the same birth outcome for every pregnant woman.
Read the 2025 randomised controlled trial on yoga during pregnancy.
Yoga, Anxiety and Mental Wellbeing During Pregnancy
A 2025 meta-analysis examining prenatal yoga and psychological health found that yoga significantly reduced anxiety scores across the included studies.
However, that particular analysis did not find statistically significant reductions in depression or stress, and there was substantial variation between studies.
That is why it is more accurate to say that prenatal yoga may support psychological wellbeing rather than claiming that yoga reliably treats depression, anxiety and stress during pregnancy.
Read the 2025 meta-analysis on prenatal yoga, anxiety, depression and stress.
Why Breathing Matters During Pregnancy
Breathing is one of the reasons yoga can be useful during pregnancy.
A yoga class creates repeated opportunities to notice breathing under mild physical effort, slow it when appropriate and remain aware of it while the body is moving.
That does not mean yoga breathing techniques guarantee an easier labour.
What they can provide is practice paying attention to breathing and responding deliberately when physical effort, discomfort or stress begins to rise.
For many people, that is a useful skill well beyond the yoga mat.
What Amanda Would Tell You
We asked Amanda what she would say to a pregnant woman who was curious about yoga but had not started yet.
Her message was simple: the practice needs to meet you where you are.
The way she practised during the first trimester was not the way she practised during the second trimester, and the way she practises at 38 weeks is different again.
That is the point.
Pregnancy is not the time to prove how flexible, strong or advanced you are.
It is a time to pay attention.
Amanda’s experience has involved adjusting movement, changing intensity, using her breathing differently and responding to what her body is telling her from week to week.
Before attending a class while pregnant, speak with your doctor, midwife or maternity-care professional and let your yoga teacher know that you are pregnant before the class begins.
Is Yoga Safe During Pregnancy?
For many people with uncomplicated pregnancies, appropriately modified physical activity can form part of a healthy pregnancy.
But pregnancy is individual, and yoga should never be treated as universally appropriate simply because it is considered a low-impact activity.
Medical conditions, pregnancy complications, previous exercise history and the stage of pregnancy can all affect what is appropriate.
That is why medical guidance and communication with your teacher matter.
What Should Change in a Yoga Practice During Pregnancy?
A pregnancy yoga practice should not simply be a normal yoga class with a few poses removed.
Depending on the stage of pregnancy and the individual, modifications may include:
- reducing intensity when fatigue or discomfort increases
- allowing more room for the abdomen in standing and folded positions
- avoiding aggressive stretching
- modifying balance poses as the centre of gravity changes
- choosing positions that remain comfortable as pregnancy progresses
- resting whenever necessary
- avoiding any technique that creates dizziness, pain, excessive strain or distress
The purpose is not to preserve exactly the same practice for nine months.
The purpose is to keep adapting the practice to the person.
Do You Need Yoga Experience Before Pregnancy?
No.
You do not need to be highly flexible, particularly fit or an experienced yoga practitioner to begin exploring yoga during pregnancy.
What matters more is choosing an appropriate class, communicating with your teacher and working within a range that feels comfortable for your body.
If you are completely new to yoga and pregnant, speak with your maternity-care professional first and talk to the teacher before the class begins.
Yoga During Pregnancy at Raw Power Yoga
Raw Power Yoga offers all-level classes where teachers provide modifications and students are encouraged to work according to their individual ability.
Our approach is not about forcing every person in the room to perform exactly the same pose in exactly the same way.
Pregnancy is one of the clearest examples of why that matters.
Amanda has continued to modify her own practice throughout pregnancy, just as she would encourage another pregnant student to do.
If you are pregnant and considering attending Raw Power Yoga, contact us before your first class so we can discuss which class may be most appropriate for you.
Frequently Asked Questions About Yoga During Pregnancy
Can I start yoga if I am already pregnant?
Potentially, yes, but speak with your doctor, midwife or maternity-care professional first, particularly if you have not exercised regularly before pregnancy or have any pregnancy complications.
Can I continue yoga in the third trimester?
Many women continue appropriately modified yoga late into pregnancy, but the practice generally needs to change as the abdomen grows, balance changes and certain positions become uncomfortable.
Is prenatal yoga proven to make labour easier?
Some studies have reported lower labour-pain intensity and favourable birth outcomes among women practising antenatal yoga. However, the evidence does not mean yoga guarantees a shorter, easier or complication-free labour.
Should I tell the yoga teacher that I am pregnant?
Yes. Always tell the teacher before class so they can discuss modifications with you and understand where you are in your pregnancy.
Can yoga replace medical or physiotherapy care during pregnancy?
No. Yoga is a form of movement and mind-body practice. It does not replace obstetric, medical or physiotherapy care when those services are needed.
Where to Start
You do not need to prove anything when you walk into a yoga studio pregnant.
You need an appropriate practice, clear communication and permission to adjust what you are doing as your body changes.
Amanda teaching at 38 weeks is not proof that every pregnant woman should be doing exactly what she is doing.
It is a powerful example of what a long-term, carefully modified yoga practice can look like when someone listens closely to their body throughout pregnancy.
Raw Power Yoga is located at 97 Sandgate Road, Albion QLD 4010.
View the Raw Power Yoga timetable and class schedule.
If you would like to discuss attending while pregnant, contact Raw Power Yoga before your first class.
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