Hi, I have heard amazing things about yoga helping prepare your body for birth. So just wanting to hear some stories from people that have tried yoga and whether they think its helped them in birth.

I can't tell you how it's helped me with labour (give me another 3.5 months for that!) but I do know it's wonderful in helping you relax, stretch your body and connect with the baby while pregnant.

Unfortunately I can't tell you personally whether it helped with labour and birth (I ended up with a c-section because I didn't go into labour) but it was fantastic while I was pregnant. One of the girls in my yoga class swears it was the only thing that got her through 13 hours of posterior labour, she said it realy helped. I'll definitely be doing it next pregnancy in preparation for a VBAC.

I had done a bit of yoga and a lot of Pilates pre-pregnancy but the place I did yoga didn't offer pregnancy yoga and the pregnancyyoga classes i could get too were too much relaxing not enough yoga for my liking so I just did it myself using a pregnancy yoga DVD.

I definitely found it peaceful to have some "me" time, to connect to bub and to feel like I was still keeping fit (along with walking and bike riding)

DD arrived 7 weeks early and I only had about 4 hours of active labour. For most of that I was confined to the bed on my back (for monitoring) and I found the breathing exercises from yoga very
helpful in dealing with the contractions (and frustration!). The only drugs I had was a bit of gas near the end....

I also bounced back after the birth very quickly and I think the yoga and other exercise helped with that too. I

If I had been able to be more mobile in labour I think I also would have found some of the yoga positions etc helpful

I did prenatal yoga every week during pregnancy from about 3 months until a few days before DD was born. I'd only done a few classes of yoga in the past, so wasn't really sure if it was my 'thing'. However, I loved it. During pregnancy it was great for relaxing, and having an hour timeout from work to think about my body and baby was lovely - I looked forward to it each week. Some of the gentle stretches really helped with my hip and leg pains. The instructor (who was lovely!) also gave good tips on what movements, breathing, etc could be useful during labour - and as it was repeated each week, I found that I could remember it during the labour.
My partner and I also did an partners "Active birth" yoga class one weekend before the birth, and I think that was v useful as it taught him some of the moves and gave tips on what he could do, so he had some idea of what to expect when we got in the labour ward. I was surprised how much he got into he class actually!!

I ended up having an emergency c-section so didn't get to try it during the pushing stage though, so not sure if it would have helped then...

I also found the breathing techniques useful after birth when home with bubba, and trying to relax to go to sleep after the night feeds.

I'd def recommend

I did yoga during my first pregnancy ( only once a week)

No yoga at all during my second pregnancy. I just couldn't find the time with a 2 yr old as well

Both labour and births ( 6 hrs normal vagina births) were the same so I would say no it didn't impact my births.
It's still a great thing to do

I just had a yoga DVD which i did semi-regularly with my first pregnancy. Can't say the positions helped during labour - I have a long 21 hour labour but the relaxation segment kept running on repeat through my mind when the pain got really intense and really helped me to relax between contractions.
I'm now in my second pregnancy and will definately be doing it again, hopefully a bit more regularly this time as I did find it very relaxing and a great way to connect to the baby.

Worked really well on the days I was feeling really hormonal too. If I was feeling a bit teary I'd go and do some yoga and by the end would be feeling relaxed and in control again.

I ended up having an epidural with my first birth. However I remember using one of the focussing/visualisation techniques from yoga to get me through the pushing part (epidural had worn off for that). I still do yoga and love it!

I'm planning on a hypnobirth in water in March with #2 and am starting pregnancy yoga tonight! Am very excited!