Thanks to MVM Clare Ettinghausen for providing this blog post….
I wanted to recommend the post-natal pilates classes at the St John’s and Elizabeth’s hospital on Grove End Road in St John’s Wood. The classes are run by the physiotherapists from the Women’s Health Department in the hospital so they are very familar with post-natal bodies! I started going to the classes when my daughter was four months old but I wish I had found out about them before. I found it really difficult to find any pilates classes during the day, so what an absolute bonus to find one that your baby is welcome too!
The classes are held in a small gym in the physiotherapy department and babies are very welcome. If your baby is unsettled then the physio will often offer to pick him or her up so you can carry on with the class. It’s no problem if you need to stop and feed or change your baby.
The classes are very small. The biggest class had four women in it but mostly there are just two or three of us so you get great advice from the physio taking the class. You can pay each class separately which is £13 or book a block of five which is £52. I have really enjoyed the classes and found them very helpful in getting my joints moving again post-pregnancy, as well as an opportunity to do some toning and stretching. The hospital is in a modern building a short walk away from Maida Vale and is accessible with a pushchair. It is also in parking zone C if you want to drive.
The women’s physiotherapy department also run a special post-natal class, which I wish I had known about at the time. It looks like a really useful way to understand what has happened to your body since having your baby (answers to questions like why do all my joints hurt!). You can read more about it here.
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