Maternal Fitness: Preparing for a Healthy Pregnancy, an Easier Labor, and a Quick Recovery

by Andrea Thompson and Julie Tupler

Book Overview

Get Your Body Ready for the Marathon of Labor If you're newly pregnant, you're probably watching your diet carefully, getting plenty of rest, and preparing for the arrival of your new baby. You're also thinking about the big day itself and what the experience of labor will be like. Even if you're following a regular fitness program, you'll want to do everything you can to strengthen and prepare your body for the rigors of labor. Maternal Fitness features...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684802953
• ISBN13: 9780684802954
• Release Date: April 1996
• Publisher: Touchstone Books
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

It really works! The best pregnancy fitness book

This book is wonderful for several reasons. 1. Technical knowledge and explanations. The author is an experienced nurse and fitness trainer so she is able to offer detailed explanations of how muscles work, how to train the muscles safely and effectively, and information on how all of this is effected during pregnancy. 2. Safe and confident. I bought this book during my first pregnancy when I was scared to do anything for fear of hurting my daughter. Her explanations and the gentle exercises were just what I needed. Extremely effective and difficult while not making you worry that you are doing something wrong or pushing too hard. 3. It works! In my first pregnancy, I followed this book throughout the first and second trimesters. During the third trimester I wasn't so diligent, but even so I managed the entire 9 months without backache or waddling. When it came time to push, the memory of the exercises helped me use the tranverse muscles correctly even though I was half numb due to the epidural. I pushed my daughter out in only 30 minutes. The doctor said this was amazing for a first timer. I also think it helped assist in a speedy recovery. I gained 30 pounds - so I didn't gain a ton, but still managed to get into my prepregnancy jeans only 2 weeks after my daughter was born. They were tight but squeezing into them still made me feel great! 4. An excellent addenda to pregnancy fitness classes. In my first pregnancy my husband was in graduate school so I couldn't afford classes outside the book. In my second pregnancy now, I go to a pregnancy pilates class 3 times a week. The class helps me be more consistent than just on my own. My instructor follows almost all the principles outlined in Tupler's book and for the couple of things she does "wrong" I can quietly modify them using Tupler's techniques. And this time, being more consistent, I have also eliminated leg cramps and have far more energy in my third trimester. I realize every pregnancy is different, but I really owe a lot of this to exercise. Anyway, I think it is the best pregnancy fitness book I have seen and it really works. Best of luck!

Bought this book instead of pregnancy yoga books

I bought this book during my first trimester instead of the "pregnancy yoga" books I was considering. I'd been doing yoga for several years prior to my pregnancy but felt that my normal classes lacked the additional information I needed about how to effectively use my body during pregnancy and labor and how to apply everything I've learned from yoga to labor. I was surprised and then grateful to find that many of the exercises in the book are similar to yoga, but Julie Tupler builds on the similarities and takes them a step further, without ever referring to yoga. She helps you understand and prepare for how you will be using your body during labor and gives helpful information about birthing positions, episiotomies, breathing, relaxation, and "pushing."I'm 6 weeks away from my due date, so I can't say how effective her method will be, but it's given me peace of mind that I can get through the process of labor and opened my mind to an unmedicated birth. I feel like the book provided me exactly what I was looking for in terms of an exercise routine combined with mental preparation.

Just what I was hoping for!

I just received this book "used" from one of the retailers. I got a great deal! The order came rather quickly and the book is in excellent condition.I like what I see in this book. This is just what I was looking for! The exercises and stretches are explained in a simple manner and there are illustrations which also guide you to make sure you are doing the exercises correctly. It is a good book for beginners. You will learn exercises to help strengthen your back, upper body, lower body and ABDOMINALS. The goal is to help you have a healthy pregnancy, efficient labor, and quick recovery.I'm glad to finally find a book that deals with strengthening the abdominal muscles CORRECTLY. Some books tell you not to work the abdominals at all during pregnancy, but how else are you going to push that baby out??? This book teaches you the correct way to safely strengthen them. Great book.

I love this book! My back pain went away and I feel great!

The book is easy to read and after doing the exercises for two months, I feel soooo much better. I really have to do the exercises every day to make a difference. This is the only book that teaches safe abdominals to do during pregnancy. It teaches you exactly how to do them correctly. I am a Personal Fitness Trainer working in NYC for 15 years and this is The book on how to exercise correctly during pregnancy. Julie Tupler knows so much about the changes your body goes through and how to cope with it all. This is a MUST for not just surviving pregnancy, but thriving while pregnanr!

Excellent preparation for managing labor - it works!

I purchased this book when I was three-months pregnant with my first child. I was able to do most of the abdominal wall and breathing exercises on my daily bus-ride to and from work. The visualization/mental exercises at the end of the book are also very beneficial. I had no epidural, no drugs, and my son was born after only four and a half hours of labor. The exercises really work!