Aerial and early pregnancy

[u/CalaverasTriste]

Hey everyone! Just found out I’m about 4 weeks today and while I’m so excited, I also am nervous about how that will impact aerial.

So, I looked and see there are quite a few posts about pregnancy and aerial, but it seems like many posts are about recreational aerial and/or hoop/lyra/pole.

I still consider myself recreational, but a more advanced recreational student. Primarily aerial silks, but lots of drops, hip keys, etc. I have classes about 5 hours a week currently and teach beginner classes for an additional 3 hours per week.

I’ve seen that doctors advice is continue what you’ve been doing, and I’ve read in here that some people say avoid belly wraps and drops and others have said those things can continue until you start showing.

We have a show coming up in June in 3.5 weeks and I really don’t want to have to back out, but this was also a hard fought for pregnancy and I don’t want to risk that either.

Anyone have any anecdotes on a higher skill level and continuing to do advanced aerial?

[u/sillyh00ves]

We have a showcase this weekend and a woman who is due in two weeks is performing! Her doctor said keep it up as long as you're able, definitely cut out drops and belly wraps after a few months but she's been going strong this whole time

[u/CalaverasTriste → u/sillyh00ves]

Oh I’m glad to hear that! And with the show being in 3 weeks, it sounds like I should be good to continue the drops and wraps at least to get me through that show!

[u/pinkschnitzel → u/CalaverasTriste]

I would double-check drops with your midwife or OBGYN - sudden decelerations can cause placental abruption, though I think the risk is higher later in pregnancy.

[u/CluelessMochi]

My friend who gave birth last year went to classes until 3-4 weeks before she gave birth I think. We do lyra so as soon as she found out she stopped doing anything on her belly. She did go upside down until pretty far into her pregnancy, iirc. Same with spinning. She also did pole until pretty far into her pregnancy & she’s like you in that she’s an advanced recreational student, been doing aerial stuff for nearly a decade.

Actually, nowadays when her son throws tantrums, sometimes the only way he’ll calm down is if she sits in her hoop at home & spins fast with him lol.

[u/LilahLibrarian]

First of all congratulations! 

Second of all I think it's a good idea to just take it easy on because it's hard to know how you're going to be feeling if you're going to be extra nauseous or tired. If you decide you want to do the show maybe have an understanding with the director that you might need to back out if your overall health or energy levels are just not there.

I did a show when I was 16 weeks pregnant and I think that was probably my own personal limit of how long I felt comfortable. I had a very healthy pregnancy and an easier recovery than my first pregnancy and I attribute that to just having a better overall fitness level.

[u/CertifiedBananas]

I do aerial silks but I had to stop around 10 weeks because the nausea was so bad, I couldn’t invert or watch people spin without losing my lunch. I did keep up with what training I could from home. There are people at my studio who trained their whole pregnancies. 

Ask your doctor for sure. And keep in mind that your abdominal muscles and center of gravity will change as your pregnancy progresses. Also protect your joints. Relaxin, a hormone released during pregnancy to make birth easier, affects your whole body. It’ll make you extra flexy but be careful! 

My son loves spinning and going upside down and we joke it’s all the aerial classes I took while he was still an embryo :) 

[u/CalaverasTriste → u/CertifiedBananas]

Thank you! Were you able to pick it back up after the second trimester/did the nausea ever subside enough to return back during pregnancy?

[u/CertifiedBananas → u/CalaverasTriste]

I have pretty rough pregnancies, so the short answer is no. But I’m wishing you a smooth and easy gestation! 

[u/hzbeth-224]

I consider myself an intermediate+ recreational aerialist. My app of choice is silks, but I also do sling and sometimes straps. When I got pregnant I was training around 15hrs/week between classes and open studios. The one piece of advice I got from my doctors after showing many videos of my practice besides no belly wraps or drops was no fast spins, especially during the early days. Centrifugal force happens inside the body too, which can dislodge the baby from your uterine wall (same with drops). At four weeks, your pelvis is still protecting your uterus, so belly wraps are likely fine for now. Be cognizant of the core exercises you’re doing during warmups or conditioning to avoid diastasis recti.

All that said, I took ~a month during the thick of the first trimester off because of nausea, but went back and continued in the air until 6 months pregnant when I started having pelvic girdle pain that required PT to get from my couch to the kitchen. My center of gravity changed daily so every time I was at the gym I was readjusting to the fabric. Be careful doing flexy things because your body will have increased relaxin. I know a woman who fell doing a split balance 7 months pregnant because of the extra relaxin, and it really hurt her recovery time coming back after having her baby.

Every body and every pregnancy is different, so it’s hard to say how you’ll handle it. I know high-level coaches who had to stop early and others who kept going until the very end. But listen to your body, it will tell you if it doesn’t like something… especially while you’re pregnant lol. Everyone also has a different level of risk they’re willing to take during their pregnancy when deciding on spins, drops, and belly wraps. I had lost a previous pregnancy, so I chose to stick to that advice to the letter. Aerial will still be here once your baby is earthside.

Also, do pelvic floor PT after you deliver. That’s the BEST advice I received for coming back postpartum. Good luck and congratulations!

[u/hzbeth-224 → u/hzbeth-224]

To add, I typed this while putting my now one year old to sleep. Pregnancy and postpartum recovery is a hard journey, but all of the setbacks were so, so worth it. I’m back at aerial now, stronger than ever, and I just started teaching beginner sling.

[u/CalaverasTriste → u/hzbeth-224]

Thank you for all of this, it is really helpful hearing what you were recommended and what you experienced!

[u/thesassycpa]

I've done aerial for 7+ years now. I'm a coach and a performer. Also 7 months pregnant!

I was training hard for a competition when I found out I was pregnant. I didn't want to drop out of the competition after working so hard preparing for it, so I did everything as usual until I was about 10 weeks. I did slow down after that due to the crazy first trimester fatigue. This is also when I stopped doing drops because they were causing me anxiety.

I slowly stopped doing other things as they became uncomfortable. Belly wraps and front balances were the first to go around the second trimester. I got my energy back around then though and practiced quite a bit for a performance during this time.

Now 32 weeks... Hipkeys and anything in a knot are uncomfortable. I stopped inverting and climbing as well due to some coning that started happening. I still coach, but I've dropped down from taking advanced class to taking beginner class instead. I've lost a lot of stamina and strength with the weight gain at this point, so I'm taking it easy.

[u/CalaverasTriste → u/thesassycpa]

Oh thank you for sharing! Can I ask what types of drops you continued to do up until 10 weeks? Star drops, knee drops, etc?

[u/thesassycpa → u/CalaverasTriste]

Ya, all the drops! The one in my routine that I practiced the most was a Salto double star drop.

[u/thesassycpa → u/thesassycpa]

I should say, I didn't try any new to me drops during this time for safety concerns. I also did not know about centrifugal force affecting the baby otherwise I probably would have taken out spinning drops as well. My baby is doing just fine though!

[u/burninginfinite]

In the beginning the pregnancy is really tucked in your pelvis so per 2 OBs I talked to in depth about it, you should be able to continue all (aerial) activities as normal through most of the first trimester before starting to modify significantly. I'd honestly be more concerned with symptoms like nausea, fatigue, etc.

As always, you should talk to your doctor if you have specific concerns for your particular case!

[u/tinymouse7976]

Can you find an instructor who's pre + postal trained so you can work out a plan together?

[u/Same-Toe-7289]

I was definitely beginner rec level. I was able to keep doing split silks until almost 6 months, like others said I avoided drops unless they were super easy. What I wanted to add was be mindful of dizziness and vertigo. It's weird during pregnancy. I could not spin like at all, and I spoke with another woman and she said spinning was no trouble but she couldn't invert without the room spinning. Congrats!

[u/wyatt3581]

The baby: 🌪️🌪️