I knew there was a world dance studio in town, and one of their big dance styles is bellydancing. Now they say that bellydance (and several other forms of hip and butt shaking dance) are quite beneficial to pregnant women – in fact a lot of them were used to help women of the past get ready for childbirth.

So when my midwife told me the dance studio was going to start a prenatal bellydance class I was excited. I nervously took myself to the first class, which was 30 minutes long. It was all gentle – a lot of warm-up stretching and some yoga poses in there, then a gentle introduction into movement of hips and arms. Gentle as it was, it was still quite a workout for me!

So this weekend I went to the second session of the class – the one full length. I must admit it was tons of fun. The instructor is pregnant too and it’s really nice to be in a room full of pregnant bellies. The stretching all feels very good and the bellydancing is certainly a workout! I didn’t realize that my hips could move quite the way that they do. I love the way my instructor talks about how dance “rocks our babies” and I love the thought of getting my body ready to move through labor and birth.

I think I’m going to pick up this prenatal bellydance DVD to have at home as I’d like some review between my two weeks classes. I’ve already been enjoying finding little moments to turn on some music and practice. If you’re looking for a good prenatal exercise I’d recommend prenatal yoga as a basis because it really helps you work with your breath and stretches out. Then something more vigorous – for me dancing is a lot of fun, and it’s some time for me to just let go and enjoy myself – and it’s some time for me to sit and think about the birth and about my sweet baby.