Yoga guide
If your pregnancy is uncomplicated, adapted yoga is one of the safest ways to stay active, and it counts toward the 150 minutes a week the NHS recommends. Prenatal yoga trials report less anxiety, low mood and stress, though the studies are small and the quality is low.
The main changes are simple: skip hot yoga, keep time lying on your back short from the end of the first trimester, swap face-down poses for all fours, and leave out poses where you could fall. Tell your midwife what you plan to do, and tell any yoga teacher you're pregnant.
This guide covers what the guidelines say, the poses to swap trimester by trimester, what yoga can and can't promise for labour, pelvic girdle pain, the warning signs to stop for, and when and how to start again after birth or a caesarean, with a 20-minute prenatal yoga workout that has nothing done flat on your back.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) lists modified yoga among the safest exercises in pregnancy. The NHS counts yoga toward the 150 minutes a week and as muscle strengthening, and Canada's guideline says adding yoga or gentle stretching may also help.
From the end of the first trimester, keep moves on your back short, prop your upper body up, or switch to side-lying, all-fours, seated or standing versions. If you feel dizzy, sick or unwell lying down, roll onto your side.
ACOG and US health advice both say to avoid hot yoga in pregnancy, because it can make you overheat.
Swap face-down poses for all fours, leave out poses you could fall from, such as headstands, and keep twists gentle and open and backbends small.
Reviews of prenatal yoga found less anxiety, low mood and stress, at low to very low quality. Some yoga reviews also report shorter labours, but the largest review of exercise in pregnancy found no link with labour length or caesarean birth.
After a straightforward birth, gentle exercise can start as soon as you feel up to it. After a caesarean, return to exercise classes when it's comfortable, which may not be for 6 weeks or so.
Prenatal yoga classes are designed for pregnant women and often teach modified poses that allow for your shifting balance, ACOG says. NHS Best Start in Life describes prenatal yoga as a way to relax and ease body tension with gentle stretching and breathing. The NHS has a free 45-minute prenatal and postnatal yoga video designed for beginners.
The extra weight at the front of your body shifts your centre of gravity, so you're less stable and more likely to lose your balance as pregnancy goes on. That's why standing poses are done near a wall or chair, and poses you could fall from are left out.
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When you lie on your back, the womb presses on a large vein that returns blood to the heart, which can lower your blood pressure for a short time, ACOG explains. The NHS says lying flat for more than a few minutes in later pregnancy can make you feel dizzy and isn't good for your baby.
Pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain (PGP) is pain at the front or back of the pelvis, from stiff pelvic joints or joints moving unevenly. It isn't harmful to your baby, but it can be painful. It tends to be worse when walking, going up or down stairs, standing on one leg, turning over in bed or moving your legs apart, which is why some yoga poses need swapping.
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"Exercise is safe for you and your baby in pregnancy", the NHS says, and it's usually fine to keep doing activities you already do. The World Health Organization (WHO) and ACOG advise at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, and the UK Chief Medical Officers' advice is to start gradually if you're not active, keep going if you are, and do muscle-strengthening activities twice a week.
ACOG lists modified yoga and modified Pilates among the safest exercises, and advises avoiding hot yoga and hot Pilates, which may make you overheat. The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) says yoga is safe and desirable for most pregnant women with the right precautions. Canada's guideline says adding yoga or gentle stretching may also be beneficial, and the NHS counts yoga as muscle strengthening.
Start slowly: the NHS suggests about 10 minutes a day to begin with, and ACOG suggests starting with as little as 5 minutes a day and adding 5 minutes each week. UK pelvic health physiotherapists suggest 15 minutes, 3 times a week, building up to 30 minutes at least 4 times a week.
Tell the teacher you're pregnant, stop if you feel uncomfortable, too hot or unwell, and avoid activities where there's a risk of falling or bumping your tummy.
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Our exercise in pregnancy guide compares all the guidelines.
From the end of the first trimester, keep moves on your back short, prop your upper body up, or switch to side-lying, all-fours, seated or standing versions. If you feel dizzy, sick or unwell lying down, roll onto your side.
Guidelines differ on timing, but the practical rule is the same. The grade is for the guidance: the evidence of harm from short spells is thin.
A review of 7 studies found no link between exercise programmes that included moves on the back and low birth weight. During single bouts of exercise on the back, blood flow to the womb fell by 13%, and 20 of 65 babies showed unusual heart-rate patterns. The authors concluded there isn't enough evidence to say whether exercising on your back is safe or should be avoided, so the guidelines play safe.
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Our suggestions after the first trimester: do the final relaxation lying on your side with pillows under your head, bump and between your knees, or sitting; prop your back up for reclining poses such as reclining bound angle; leave out happy baby; and keep any lying twist or bridge brief and propped up.
ACOG and NCCIH advise avoiding hot yoga in pregnancy because of overheating, UK pelvic health physiotherapists say hot and humid conditions are generally not suitable, and the WHO advises avoiding activity in excessive heat, especially with high humidity. Ordinary yoga in a comfortably cool room is the safe swap.
In people who weren't pregnant, core body temperature peaked between 38.2 and 40.1 °C during 90 minutes of Bikram yoga. A core temperature of 39.0 °C is the level of concern in pregnancy, and in 12 studies of ordinary exercise in pregnancy, no one reached it. Our hot yoga guide covers hot yoga in general.
The guideline rules are in the notes; applying them to each pose is our editorial advice. No trial has tested which poses to swap.
Most beginner poses are fine if you feel well, including poses on your back: in the early weeks, any comfortable position is safe, UK pelvic health physiotherapists say. Avoid getting overheated, skip hot classes, avoid anything with a risk of falling or a blow to your tummy, and do less on days you feel sick or tired.
Keep poses on your back short or propped up, or swap them. Swap face-down poses for all fours. Keep twists gentle and open, turning your chest rather than squeezing the bump, and keep backbends small.
The same swaps, with smaller movements and more rest. Hold a wall or chair for every standing balance, because the bump shifts your balance, and stop any pose that brings on pain, especially in your back or pelvis.
Our suggested swaps after the first trimester:
Side-lying, all-fours and seated poses are often the most comfortable. Keep your knees together as you change position, avoid standing on one leg or crossing your legs, skip wide stances such as goddess, warrior II and triangle or keep them narrow, and leave out anything that hurts.
Prenatal yoga trials are small, and several reviews pool the same trials.
A 2022 review pooled 29 studies (2,217 women): prenatal yoga lowered anxiety, depression and perceived stress, with the quality of evidence low to very low for every outcome. A 2026 review of 35 studies found the same, especially in women without earlier depression or anxiety, and a smaller review found depression improved in women who were depressed but not clearly in those who weren't.
Yoga reviews report shorter labours (by about 2 hours in the 2022 review), more normal births and less labour pain, but their evidence is of low and very low quality, from small trials with very different results. A 2025 review of 14 trials in first-time mothers reported fewer caesareans, alongside a fall in vaginal births that its summary doesn't explain.
Against that, the largest review of exercise in pregnancy (113 studies, 52,858 women) found no link with caesarean birth, induction or the length of labour. Prenatal yoga may make labour a little easier to cope with, but don't rely on it to change how you give birth.
Across those 113 studies, exercise in pregnancy wasn't linked with harm to mothers, injuries or a tummy gap, and it cut the odds of a forceps or ventouse delivery by about a quarter (moderate-quality evidence).
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The 2022 review found no adverse events in any of the pregnancy yoga trials. In 25 healthy women at 35 to 37 weeks, 26 yoga postures done one to one, with monitoring, caused no change in the mother's vital signs or the baby's heart rate, and no falls or injuries. That's reassuring for supervised practice, but it can't show that every pose suits every pregnancy.
In 92 pregnant women with depression, weekly 20-minute tai chi and yoga sessions for 12 weeks reduced sleep problems compared with a waiting list. A study of 60 women in the third trimester, which wasn't randomised, found sleep improved in both its groups. That's too little to say yoga improves sleep in pregnancy.
In 60 pregnant women (12 to 32 weeks) with lower back and pelvic pain, 10 weeks of hatha yoga eased pain more than a leaflet of posture advice. It is one small trial.
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Across 15 trials, exercise in pregnancy made lower back and pelvic girdle pain less severe, at very low to moderate quality, but didn't stop it starting. In a Cochrane review, an 8 to 12 week exercise programme reduced the number of women reporting lower back and pelvic pain (moderate quality), and side effects, when reported, were minor and short-lived.
The NHS advises keeping active but avoiding things that make the pain worse, resting when you can, and putting equal weight on each leg when standing. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) advises avoiding standing on one leg and crossing your legs, and NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) suggests considering a referral to physiotherapy for exercise advice or a pelvic support belt.
The NHS back exercise for pregnancy is cat-cow done carefully: on all fours with your back straight, round it up, hold for a few seconds, then return to the box position without hollowing your back. Do it slowly and rhythmically 10 times.
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Seated, all-fours, kneeling, standing with support and side-lying, as in our prenatal yoga workout. 3 to 5 breaths in each pose or the dose on each pose's page; skip the wide and one-legged standing poses with pelvic girdle pain, and sit on a chair instead of cross-legged if it brings on cramps.
3D demoEasy pose (Sukhasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoSlow breathing (6 breaths a minute)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoBreath reachBeginner · No equipment
3D demoCat-cowBeginner · No equipment
3D demoBird dog, one limb at a timeBeginner · No equipment
3D demoChild's Pose (Balasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoGate Pose (Parighasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoMountain Pose (Tadasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoWarrior II (Virabhadrasana II)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoGoddess pose (Utkata Konasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoTriangle pose (Utthita Trikonasana)Intermediate · A step
3D demoTree pose (Vrksasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoWall calf stretch (gastrocnemius)Beginner · A wall
3D demoSide-lying tummy draw-inBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSide-lying Open Book RotationBeginner · No equipmentFine in the early weeks. From the end of the first trimester, keep them short or propped up, lie on your side for the final relaxation, and leave out happy baby.
3D demoCorpse Pose (Savasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoReclining Bound Angle (Supta Baddha Konasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoSupine spinal twist (Supta Matsyendrasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoHappy Baby (Ananda Balasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoLegs up the wall (Viparita Karani)Beginner · A wall
3D demoPelvic tilt into bridgeBeginner · No equipmentSwap the face-down poses (cobra, sphinx, locust and bow) for all fours. Leave out the upside-down poses and arm balances because of the risk of falling, and boat pose. Keep twists open and backbends small.
3D demoLow cobra (Bhujangasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoSphinx pose (Salamba Bhujangasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoLocust pose (Salabhasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoBow pose (Dhanurasana)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoSupported headstand (Salamba Sirsasana)Expert · A wall
3D demoSupported shoulderstand (Salamba Sarvangasana)Advanced · No equipment
3D demoPlow pose (Halasana)Advanced · No equipment
3D demoHandstand at the wall (Adho Mukha Vrksasana, chest to wall)Advanced · A wall
3D demoCrow pose (Bakasana)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoBoat pose (Navasana)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoHalf lord of the fishes (Ardha Matsyendrasana)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoCamel pose (Ustrasana)Intermediate · No equipmentThe prenatal yoga workout suits any trimester and has nothing done flat on your back or front. Add pelvic floor exercises every day, and walking or swimming for the rest of your 150 minutes. After birth, start with the postnatal exercises.
A 20-minute prenatal yoga workout for any trimester: seated breathing, all-fours and kneeling poses, supported standing poses and rest, none flat on your back.
20 minBeginner15 movesA step, A wallA 20-minute Pilates workout for any trimester: seated, standing, all-fours and side-lying moves, with no lying on your back or front and no jumping.
20 minBeginner15 movesA wall, A bench or boxA 5-minute daily pelvic floor workout for women and men: slow holds and quick squeezes, three times a day, with how to find the right muscles.
5 minBeginner2 movesNo equipmentA steady 30 to 45 minute cardio session at talk-but-not-sing pace: walk, cycle, row or cross-train, counting toward weekly activity guidelines.
40 minBeginner3 movesCardio machine, A wallA gentle 25-minute routine for the first weeks after birth: pelvic floor, breathing, tummy and hip exercises on the floor, sit-to-stands and a walk.
25 minBeginner12 movesA bench or box, Cardio machineUK pelvic health physiotherapists suggest starting breathing and pelvic floor exercises within the first few hours after birth (after a caesarean, once the catheter is out), with short walks over the first weeks.
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After a straightforward birth, the NHS says you can start gentle exercise, such as walking, gentle stretches and pelvic floor exercises, as soon as you feel up to it. ACOG says it is usually safe to begin a few days after giving birth, or as soon as you feel ready, and suggests classes such as yoga. The UK guidance: if you were active before, restart gradually, and keep up pelvic floor exercises daily.
A postnatal class is a good choice; in any other class, tell the teacher you've recently had a baby. The NHS suggests avoiding sit-ups, planks and high-impact exercise to start with, and getting advice at your 6-week postnatal check before high-impact exercise. Its prenatal and postnatal yoga video is for after the birth once you have the all-clear to exercise.
The NHS says to start exercise again only when you feel able and it isn't uncomfortable, which may not be for 6 weeks or so, and not to lift anything heavier than your baby for at least 6 weeks. Our suggestion: begin with breathing, pelvic floor exercises and walks, add gentle seated, all-fours and side-lying poses when they're comfortable, and leave deep backbends, deep twists and strong core poses until the scar is comfortable and you've had your check.
In 6 trials (443 women), postnatal yoga lowered depression scores, but the results varied a great deal between trials. A review of 6 studies linked postnatal yoga with fewer symptoms of depression and better wellbeing, and called for better research. If low mood after birth lasts, talk to your midwife, health visitor or GP.
A gap between the tummy muscles is common after birth and usually narrows by 8 weeks; the NHS says to contact your GP if it's still obvious 8 weeks after the birth. Exercise in pregnancy isn't linked with it, and after birth, curl-ups built strength without widening the gap in a trial of 70 women. Our exercise after birth guide has the detail.
If you have any of these during or after exercise (in the US, call your obstetrician):
The NHS lists symptoms to get help for at any time, including a change in your baby's movements, a high temperature, a severe headache, sudden problems with your vision, sudden swelling of your face, hands, legs or feet, and breathlessness that comes on suddenly or with chest pain. Up to 12 weeks, contact your GP surgery or early pregnancy unit; from 12 to 19 weeks, your midwife or early pregnancy unit; from 20 weeks, your midwife or maternity unit. Call 999 if you think it's a life-threatening emergency, and NHS 111 if you're not sure what to do.
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Contact your GP or midwife urgently if you have back pain in your second or third trimester, which could be a sign of early labour, or back pain with a fever, bleeding from your vagina, pain when you pee or pain in one or both sides, under your ribs. Call 999 or go to A&E if you lose feeling in one or both legs, your bottom or your genitals.
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Call your midwife or GP if you have pelvic pain and it's hard to move around, it hurts to get out of a car or turn over in bed, or it's painful going up or down stairs.
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Canada's guideline lists conditions in which you should keep to your usual daily activities rather than more strenuous exercise, including ruptured membranes, premature labour, persistent unexplained vaginal bleeding, placenta praevia after 28 weeks, pre-eclampsia, a weakened cervix, a baby who isn't growing as expected, triplets or more, uncontrolled type 1 diabetes, high blood pressure or thyroid disease, and other serious heart, lung or whole-body conditions. Ask your midwife or doctor first if any apply to you.
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Contact your midwife or a GP straight away if you have:
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ACOG lists modified yoga among the safest exercises, and the NHS says that if you're new to exercise, you can start slowly, with about 10 minutes a day.
Yoga reviews report shorter labours and more normal births at low to very low quality, but the largest review of exercise in pregnancy found no link with caesarean birth or the length of labour.
ACOG and NCCIH advise avoiding it, and hot yoga can push core temperature above 39 °C, the level of concern in pregnancy, even in people who aren't pregnant.
In the early weeks, any comfortable position is safe, UK pelvic health physiotherapists say. Guidelines limit time on your back from the end of the first trimester or later, and the evidence of harm is thin.
No trial has tested twists in pregnancy. Gentle, open twists are our practical adjustment, and UK pelvic health physiotherapists note that rapid twists and turns may cause pain.
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After a straightforward birth, you can start gentle exercise as soon as you feel up to it. After a caesarean, return when you feel able and it's comfortable, which may not be for 6 weeks or so.
We found no trials testing yoga to start labour (a Europe PMC search, October 2026). If you're overdue, your midwife will talk you through the options.
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For most women with an uncomplicated pregnancy, yes: ACOG lists modified yoga among the safest exercises. Tell your teacher you're pregnant, avoid hot yoga, and stop if you feel uncomfortable, too hot or unwell.
Yes, gently. The NHS suggests starting with about 10 minutes a day if you're new to exercise. A prenatal class or our prenatal yoga workout is a good place to start.
After the first trimester, swap long spells on your back and poses on your front for side-lying, seated, kneeling or all-fours versions. Leave out hot yoga, headstands, shoulder stands and other poses with a risk of falling, keep twists gentle and backbends small, and with pelvic girdle pain skip wide and one-legged poses.
Advice differs: the WHO says after the first trimester, NHS Best Start in Life particularly after 16 weeks, and UK pelvic health physiotherapists from about 18 to 20 weeks. A simple rule: from the end of the first trimester keep it short, prop yourself up or switch positions, and roll onto your side if you feel dizzy or unwell.
No: ACOG and NCCIH advise avoiding it because of overheating. In people who weren't pregnant, hot yoga raised core temperature to as much as 40 °C. Choose ordinary yoga in a comfortably cool room instead.
Yes. In the early weeks, any position you find comfortable is safe, UK pelvic health physiotherapists say. Avoid overheating, skip hot classes, and do less on days you feel sick or tired.
Small trials suggest shorter labours, less labour pain and more normal births, but the quality is low and very low. The largest review of exercise in pregnancy found no effect on caesarean rates or labour length, though exercise made a forceps or ventouse birth a little less likely.
It may: in one trial of 60 women, yoga eased lower back and pelvic pain more than posture advice, and exercise in general makes pregnancy back and pelvic pain less severe. With pelvic girdle pain, avoid standing on one leg and moving your legs wide apart, and ask your midwife about physiotherapy.
Reviews found less anxiety, low mood and stress with prenatal yoga, though the trials are low quality. The evidence on sleep is thin.
After a straightforward birth, gentle exercise such as walking, stretches and pelvic floor exercises can start as soon as you feel up to it. Postnatal yoga classes are fine once you feel ready; tell the teacher you've recently had a baby, and ask at your 6-week check before high-impact exercise.
Start with breathing, pelvic floor exercises once your catheter is out, and short walks. Return to exercise classes when you feel able and it's comfortable, which may not be for 6 weeks or so, and lift nothing heavier than your baby for at least 6 weeks.
There's no evidence that it can: we found no trials testing yoga to start labour. If you're overdue, your midwife will talk you through the options.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. If you are pregnant, have a health condition such as glaucoma, high blood pressure or osteoporosis, or have had recent surgery, check with a doctor, midwife or physiotherapist before starting, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
