Pregnancy & Tribe Yoga’s Classes

At Tribe Yoga, your wellness and fitness are our first concern. As such we have developed a policy around attending any of our classes whilst pregnant. We also recognise that just because you are pregnant shouldn’t impede your intention to remain fit and healthy. We have consulted with a number of professionals on the matter and have a number of key pieces of advice and our studio policy below. Overall, you are welcome to join most of our regular classes after receiving approval from your primary care physician and signing our Pregnancy Waiver acknowledging risks. Please do check in with your primary care physician before practicing at Tribe during your pregnancy to assess what’s best for you.

Key Pieces of Advice

Consulting with our studio doctor, various NHS paediatricians and experienced pre-natal yoga teachers we have a consensus.

• -You should avoid intense exercise or yoga in the first 12 weeks of your pregnancy. Please note that any exercise during pregnancy poses a risk.
• -Everybody’s bodies are different. You should always have your doctor, midwife or health visitor assess your for what types of exercise and yoga you can do.
• -If you have an existing yoga or Pilates practice, it is is generally accepted to maintain a personal practice, however it is safest after the first 12 weeks. Please note that modifications may be required to reduce risk during pregnancy.
• -You should avoid lying flat on your back as much as possible (in particular after 16 weeks). This can be quite difficult to avoid in traditional yoga and pilates classes.
• -There are several poses used in our regular Yoga, Barre & Pilates classes that should never be undertaken by someone who is pregnant. These include but are not limited to twists, folds, over-stretching and lying flat on your back.
• -The qualification to teach pregnancy classes is quite a specific qualification for which only a few of our teachers have.
• -You should avoid any classes that are heated. Practicing in heat is not safe during pregnancy.
• -If you have an existing cycle practice, it is generally accepted to maintain this, however, please consult your primary care physician and sign the pregnancy waiver at the front desk prior to attending cycle classes. Please note, as with our other classes, personal modifications may be required for your safety.
• -For Reformer classes, regular classes are ONLY recommended until 13 weeks. ONLY prenatal specific classes are suitable for pregnant clients after 13 weeks. These will be offered soon.

The Tribe Yoga Pregnancy Policy

Given the above, we have defined that our policy is to not admit clients who are pregnant to regular classes without signing a pregnancy waiver acknowledging all risks and confirming they have permission from a medical professional. We have decided this because in most situations our teachers are (1) not qualified to advise you what is safe and not safe, (2) our classes often have 20+ people in the room and it is impossible for the teacher to pay specific attention to one client, (3) we have no understanding if you have been passed to attend class or have the knowledge and experience to adapt your practice to your pregnancy.

For those of you who have spoken to a health professional, have an existing practice and understand what you should or shouldn’t do, you can opt to sign our pregnancy waiver which states we have advised you that we cannot explicitly recommend our classes to people whom are pregnant due to the above reasons.

If you would like more information on the above, please feel free to pop in and talk to one of our teachers. We would recommend talking to a studio manager.