I found Floating Fitness almost 5 years ago when I moved to Forest Hill and was looking for local exercise classes. After one class, I was hooked. I loved the challenges that came with hanging upside down in an aerial yoga hammock and 6 months later doing the same on a pole.

When my husband and I decided to start trying for a baby, I’ll be honest, I didn’t really think about how much it would change my body or what that would mean for pole. Roll forward to September 2020 and that well-known second line…

Now I needed to think about it!

For me, it was never a question of whether I would stop pole dancing but more how I could continue. The advice from my doctor was that if it was a type of exercise I had been doing for a long-time, then I was fine to continue, as long as I listened to my body and was careful to avoid falls/hard impacts. Finding that advice a little vague, I turned to the internet and found various blogs from other women who had continued pole throughout their pregnancy. One thing was clear. Every woman had a very different experience and although I could apply some general ‘rules’ I was going to have to figure it out as I went along.

So, below I answer a few questions that I hope will help inform other pregnant women who want to continue pole dancing. I definitely wouldn’t describe myself as having continued to ‘float’ around a pole. But I’m really proud to say I continued training for as long as possible and can’t wait to get back once baby is a few months old.

May 2020 - First Lockdown (before pregnancy)

Why did you want to continue pole dancing?

Personally, I felt that keeping fit and healthy was the best thing I could do for my baby. Floating Fitness has become a big part of my life. Continuing to go each week wasn’t just about my physical fitness but keeping mentally healthy as well.

Was I worried that pole dancing could harm my baby?

No, but I completely understand why some women may feel this way as we’re all told how common miscarriage is in the early stages of pregnancy. I felt confident that as long as I wasn’t pulling the pole into my stomach or crashing to the floor, they would be safe and sound in the little protective bubble my body had built for them. Veronika, director of Floating Fitness London also asked me to provide written confirmation from my GP that I was able to continue my pole journey with a baby on board. So, overall I felt properly cared for and safe in classes.

What ‘rules’ did you apply to your training?

These changed as I got further through pregnancy. Initially it was no grips on my stomach and definitely no new tricks that I could fall from. After about 20 weeks, I stopped anything that required me to lie flat on my back for extended periods (this advice is consistently given to pregnant women and applies to sleeping, which was terrible for me as I love to sleep like Dracula in his coffin!) and deep stretches (as your muscles naturally start to loosen and I was told it was then easy to overstretch). Not long after this, I stopped inverting and doing ab exercises. My bump was getting bigger which meant my abs had shifted and it really wasn’t comfortable for me anymore.

Did ‘morning sickness’ or other pregnancy symptoms stop you from going to classes?

Absolutely. From about week 9 I felt nauseous almost constantly and stopped going to classes for 5-6 weeks as I was exhausted and just wanting to sleep all the time. As soon as this passed though I was back in the studio. I haven’t had many other symptoms other than a few aches and pains as I’ve got bigger which has meant missing the odd class. I did also drop down from two classes a week to just one fairly quickly as I had less energy than before.

How did you hide your growing bump?

I didn’t try and hide anything. I made sure all the instructors knew as soon as I found out I was pregnant and told a few of the women I’ve known for a long time – they were immediately suspicious anyway as I stopped doing certain moves/tricks! My bump didn’t become obvious until after my 13-week scan and by that point we knew our little one was fit and healthy so everyone could know.

Did you pole dance through your whole pregnancy?

Unfortunately, no. My husband pulled me onto the dancefloor at a wedding this weekend and quickly realised his error…

I am 33 weeks pregnant writing this and have taken the difficult decision to stop. The extra 20kg and ever growing bump means I can only do short bursts of ‘exercise’. I’m generally starting to feel quite uncomfortable just doing everyday things like putting my shoes on and walking up the stairs takes quite a lot of effort.

What was the hardest thing about pole dancing while pregnant?

The hardest part has been accepting I couldn’t do certain tricks anymore. What I love about pole is you can always push yourself to get stronger and it’s so satisfying to finally nail a trick you’ve been building up to for months. During pregnancy, it’s been the opposite. Slowly losing skills and going back to basics. But, that definitely isn’t a bad thing as I’ve done spins I had completely forgotten about and made sure to train both sides equally. (We know we’re all supposed to but rarely do it).