PRINTDancing for the prenatal soul
This ancient art goes back to its roots to help expectant mothers
April 26, 2007 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Shakira’s rotating hips and tantalizing hypnotic moves are enough to compel you to take up belly dance. Apart from that, the art looks beautiful and keeps the body healthy and toned. Yet for some, the most important reason is probably unexpected. It helps soon-to-be mothers stay fit, have fun and prepare for labor.
Click here to watch a slide show from a prenatal belly dancing class. Images By JESSICA BECKER
Moves of belly dancing, the informal name of a Middle Eastern folk dance, vary through different countries. Ancient Berber tribal ceremonies in northern Africa required women to dance with abdominal movements around the pregnant mother.
DeeDee Farris-Folkerts turns Middle Eastern dance into an actual belly dance. Working as a childbirth educator and labor assistant at Columbia Community Birth Center, she teaches women the moves that will help them cope with the demands of labor. One of the challenges that can make labor more complicated is when the baby wiggles its way into a painful position (painful for mom that is).
“If a mother finds herself in this situation, she remembers ‘Oh, I can rotate my pelvis in little circles like we learned in class,’” Farris-Folkerts says. “This can often encourage the baby to move into a more desirable position and ease delivery.”
Mothers-to-be, dressed in exercise clothes, gather once a week in the cream-colored room with a wall-wide mirror at the Wellness Center. They don’t use the stereotypical skirts or belts with spangles and coins so nothing blocks the instructor’s ability to spot if they use the right group of muscles when dancing.
Farris-Folkerts uses elements of yoga and standing Pilates for warm-up. One of the biggest challenges for women is learning to squat for an extended period of time. Squatting opens the pelvis and can facilitate an easier birth. Mothers try to stay in a squat for a minute or two.
“This is more difficult than it sounds,” Farris-Folkerts says.
After the warm-up, mothers do basic belly dance movements while drums encourage their rhythm. This is when they realize that Shakira’s gyrations are not as easy as they seem. Motions require concentration and physical strength.
“Oh, gosh, I don’t know if there is anything really easy,” says Adina Klima who started belly dancing before getting pregnant. She switched to prenatal belly dancing because simply getting herself around became difficult. “You cannot do all the same moves when you are pregnant.” Klima found that prenatal dancing focuses mainly on hips and breathing while regular belly dancing involves a lot of knee work. This is one circumstance expectant mothers happily take advantage.
“It’s almost easier to move if you have an excuse for not doing a good job,” Klima says. Jennifer Wright came to the class halfway through her first pregnancy. She felt uncomfortable in the beginning of her dancing experience because of all the changes her body was undergoing. Nonetheless, she returned to the class when she was expecting her third daughter, Aubrey.
“Belly dancing allows us a great workout tailored to our changing bodies and honestly, it makes most of us feel very sexy at a time when our growing bellies and swelling ankles make us feel a little awkward,” says Wright.
Dancing helps women to become familiar with the anatomy and physiology of their bodies. They also learn to identify, strengthen and relax muscles that will be involved in labor. Wright says remembering how to move was useful when she was in the delivery room. It helped her to relieve pain and pressure and move the baby down. After giving birth, Wright spent several weeks adjusting to the new addition to her family. She has just taken belly dancing in a special Farris-Folkerts’ class where postpartum mothers can recover from labor and regain their forms.
Patti Watts danced in a regular belly dancing class throughout her pregnancy. She was looking forward to utilizing the exercises she learned during classes but had to undergo a C-section instead. Watts says she was still gratified by a compliment from her doctor who said she had strong muscles.
Wright says her 3-year-old daughter, Alyson, has a natural sense of rhythm. She explains that it’s because Alyson started belly dancing before even being born.
