Yoga's quite a stretch for some pregnant women
In China, the first prenatal yoga class was launched in October 2003 by the pregnancy gym at Shanghai's No 1 Women and Infants' Health Center, focusing on 16 to 37 weeks moms-to-be.
Over the past four years, over 700 pregnant women have taken regular classes, paying around 50 yuan ($6.25) per class.
Normally, each session lasts no more than 50 minutes, with classes of between 5 and 20 attendees, and only selected yoga movements and simple gymnastics' are taught.
Prenatal yoga sprung up in the West during the 1970s, while the number of prenatal yoga classes under professional supervision in China is still rather low.
Though the advantage of prenatal yoga is noticeable, such classes are only found in a few cities - Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an for example.
"Many women don't get into the habit of doing exercise regularly before they get pregnant, so how can we expect them to pick it up after their bodies grow heavier?" says Zhang Lei, a yoga tutor at Shanghai No 1 Women and Infants' Health Center.
She says that time restriction is another reason that many pregnant women, who are working class and still suffer from heavy workload, may not be able to attend yoga class.
A Beijing native surnamed Hu is four months pregnant. The 32-year-old woman has never thought about prenatal yoga, as there is no class available in the residential area where she lives.
"I am very busy at work. I don't think it is a good idea to spend hours on the road to take the class in the city center, when I am off.
"Convenience is the priority for me to decide which exercise I should pick up," she says.
Hu prefers taking a walk at night or practicing prenatal gymnastics at home, which she learnt from a hospital.
A Zhejiang native Yang Jie, who is nine months pregnant, also has little interest in prenatal yoga. "If I were an experienced yoga practitioner, I might give it a go, but the fact is I know nothing about prenatal yoga, so I'd better not to take the challenge. Walking is the safest exercise for me," she admits.
China Daily
(China Daily 07/11/2007 page19)
