When to Start Breathing Exercises for Pregnancy & Birth

Have you been doing your breathing exercises for pregnancy? It’s not too late to start! Even if you’ve been pregnant for awhile, it’s never too late to start practicing healthy breathing techniques. Breathing correctly during pregnancy can help improve circulation, promote relaxation, and keep your body functioning at its best. Keep reading for tips on how to get started with breathing exercises for pregnancy today.

But first, how the heck do I know anything about “pregnancy breathing exercises”?

But first, how do I know all of this? Hi — I’m Hilary — The Pregnancy Nurse 👩‍⚕️. I have been a nurse since 1997 and I have 20 years of OB nursing experience, I am also the curly head behind Pulling Curls and The Online Prenatal Class for Couples. 🩺​ I teach breathing exercises in that class, and I’ve done it with hundreds of patients in person. In addition, I’ve really been working on breathing to calm MYSELF down as I brave an onslaught of teenagers at my house.

If you really want to understand how breathing helps (and how to do it), come join me in here.

Pregnancy can be a stressful time, and it’s important to take care of yourself both mentally and physically. 

Many pregnant women feel like they don’t have enough time to relax and practice healthy breathing exercises for pregnancy. Between doctor appointments, getting the house ready for the baby, and dealing with all the other stresses of life, it can be hard to find time for yourself.

Breathing exercises for pregnancy don’t have to take up a lot of time. In fact, you can do them right at your desk or in bed before you go to sleep. All you need is a few minutes each day to focus on your breath and relax your mind and body.

It’s one of the important things you can do and take some time for you and the baby.

When Should I Start Breathing Exercises During Pregnancy

Is today too soon? Incorporating breathing into your lifestyle is a great way to calm yourself during ANY stressful event (and we know pregnancy is full of those, during the entire 9 months). Times pregnancy breathing can help:

• Getting your blood drawn
• Necessary vaginal exams
• Talking with a partner about disagreements
• Ligament paint (OUCH)
• Pelvic pain when you sneeze or get up too fast (OUCH!)

The list goes on. These are going to be super helpful and you should start them today!

Wondering what in the heck they are – I do some in here at around 13 seconds in this video (which is a preview of my class video from here):

Ok, but let’s talk more about why breathing exercises during pregnancy are important:

Changes to Breathing During Pregnancy

Did you know that your lungs actually lose volume during pregnancy as the baby pushes up on your diaphragm. That’s why you feel out of breath (or feel shortness of breath) frequently even when you haven’t done much, little loan strenuous exercise. That is totally normal.

Your rib cage will expand a bit to give your lungs more room to expand horizontally to compensate. I think that’s pretty cool!

Effective breathing also blows-off the carbon dioxide of your baby in addition to your own. The efficient removal of waste products (because that’s what CO2 is) helps you and the baby stay calm.

It is normal for breathing during pregnancy to feel different — like you don’t get enough air in your lungs, or you’re breathing faster. All due to that baby shoving up to into what used to be lung space.

Proper breathing can help you stay relaxed and comfortable during pregnancy

Oxygenation is actually SO important during pregnancy and while it’s not something you really think about, your body definitely is! You and baby both need a plentiful supply of oxygen.

Also, when you are in the hospital they will likely check your oxygenation and carefully monitor your blood pressure to make sure you and the baby are getting all the oxygen you need in a healthy manner.

Stress During Pregnancy

Pregnancy can be a very stressful time for new parents. From the moment you find out you’re pregnant, there are so many things to think about and prepare for.

Breathing exercises for pregnancy can help relieve some of the stress and anxiety that comes with being pregnant.

While baby does benefit from short periods of stress, he/she doesn’t handle long stretches of stress well. So, it is important that if you’re feeling constant stress or anxiety that you find ways to cope and manage it. Breathing is a great way to start!

Rhythmic breathing is a great way to calm your nervous system.

What are Some Breathing Exercises you can do?

There are a few different breathing exercises for pregnant women that can help you stay relaxed and comfortable. Here are a few of our favorites:

Of course, keep in mind you can always start by just taking slow breaths. This doesn’t need to be anything fancy, just concentrating on your breathing a lot of time will center you, bring you back to the present and help you relax.

You can/should start these even as early as your first trimester!

1. Deep diaphragmatic breathing: This is the best way to get started with breathing exercises for pregnancy. Sit or recline in a comfortable position, and focus on taking deep breaths from your diaphragm into your abdominal muscles. Be sure to exhale fully after each breath. These deep breathing exercises will help calm you, and will also help baby be calm too. Some people call this abdominal breathing or belly breathing as you’ll want to concentrate the air down into your belly.

This core activation can be awesome for your body and will help keep your core strong even with your weight gain (or baby gain).

2. Breath counting: This is a great way to focus on your breathing and help you relax. Simply count each breath as you inhale and exhale, and see how long you can keep counting before your mind wanders. One of the other things I have heard is different breathing patterns — like breathing in a square and you visualize the square as your breath (like each side is 2 counts or something).

3. Visualization: Close your eyes and visualize a peaceful place. focus on the details of your surroundings, and breathe deeply as you imagine yourself in this calming space.

4. Progressive muscle relaxation: Start by tensing and relaxing your toes, then move up to your calves, thighs, hips, stomach, chest, back, shoulders, arms, and neck. As you tense each muscle group, breathe in deeply and hold for a few seconds before releasing the tension and exhaling.

5. Guided relaxation: There are many great resources available online or on your smartphone that can help you relax with guided relaxation or meditation.

Labor Practice Breathing

While all of the exercises above can help calm you and make you feel more centered, these exercises below are specifically tailored to help you prepare for labor.

Labor breathing can help you stay calm and focused during labor.

-Breathing deeply and rhythmically can help reduce the pain of contractions.

-It can also help keep you relaxed and in control, which can lead to a shorter, more comfortable labor.

You will see some overlap from the stuff above.

1. Relaxed breathing: This is the most important labor breathing technique. It involves taking slow, deep breaths and focusing on relaxing your whole body. Slow breathing helps your heart to slow down too!

2. Visualization: As with the other exercises, visualization can help you relax and focus on something other than the pain of contractions. One of the best ways to use this is in combination with chest breathing or belly breathing too.

3. Distraction: If you find yourself getting overwhelmed by contractions, try to focus on something else. Listen to music, talk to your partner, or focus on your breath. Distraction is honestly one of the best relaxation techniques during labor.

4. Relaxed breathing with contraction: This is a variation of the first exercise. As you feel a contraction coming on, take a deep breath and focus on relaxing your whole body. Exhale slowly and focus on letting go of the tension.

There are specific breathing techniques that they recommend just for labor. Many women use these for the majority of their pain management, but they can also be used in conjunction with other methods.

Lamaze Breathing: this is different type of breathing than those mentioned above. The breaths in tend to be a bit shorter (multiple small shallow breaths), with a longer exhale. You can see some of it in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNh8DvcMuq0 Many people think of this as a pant-pant-blow type breathing.

Relaxing Your Pelvic Floor: This is when you take deep breaths and just try to relax your pelvic floor. It is extremely important that you relax your pelvic floor during labor so it is easier to push out the baby. Practicing it in advance can really help!

Cleansing Breath: I love to take this at the end of each contraction. It helps relax your body as it may have tensed up during the contraction and it just helps blow all that stress away.

As your due date draws closer, it would be smart to practice these different breathing techniques either alone or with your partner.

What Does It Do When You Hold Your Breath?

It typically happens when your whole body is tensed up. It just makes you more tense, and less oxygenated. No good. Deep breathing makes it harder to tense up (give it a try, I’ll wait).

This can also happen just with very shallow breathing — when you focus and use your diaphragm more it helps everything relax. That’s why you’ll hear people talk about diaphragmatic breathing during pregnancy.

Benefits of breathing exercises

The benefits of breathing exercises are many. They can help you to relax, focus, and center yourself. They can also help to prepare you for labor, both mentally and physically. Deep breathing exercises can help to reduce the pain of contractions, and can keep you relaxed and in control during labor. Guided relaxation and visualization can also be extremely helpful during labor. All of these benefits can lead to a shorter, more comfortable labor for you and your baby!

I also think that a nice exhalation lets me put all the pain or fears behind me and move on with my life.

When should you start Breathing Exercises for Pregnancy?

You can start breathing exercises for pregnancy as soon as you find out you’re pregnant. In fact, it’s never too early – or late – to start practicing healthy breathing techniques.

Breathing correctly during pregnancy can help improve circulation, promote relaxation, and keep your body functioning at its best. If you’re looking for ways to reduce stress and relax during pregnancy, give some of these exercises a try.

Do I need to learn pregnancy breathing if I’m going to get an epidural?

These breathing techniques are not JUST to replace any other pain management. You can use them:

• When you are laboring on your own at home during the first stage of labor. While it might not be painful enough to go to the hospital, it can still be quiet painful.
• Aches and pains of pregnancy aren’t helped by you tensing up, by relaxing you tell your body everything is OK.
• Stressful times of pregnancy — day to day life
• For any afterbirth pains
• The epidural may not work as effective as you hope. Their plan is to only take away 80% of the pain. That, combined with the pressure of the baby’s head can still be uncomfortable at delivery
• Living life as a mom, there will be many times you nee to breathe it out there too!

Listen To your Body

Make sure to take it easy and listen to your body – if something doesn’t feel right, stop doing the exercise. And always consult with your healthcare provider before starting any new exercise routine.

We hope you found these tips for breathing in pregnancy helpful. Remember, healthy breathing is essential for a healthy pregnancy and delivery. If you have any questions or concerns, please be sure to talk to your healthcare provider.

I bet you’re ready to learn more about how to breathe and also how it can help you during labor. Come join me in in The Online Prenatal Class for Couples where we prepare you from to bassinet INCLUDING breathing (in the natural pain management video that is included with all of the options available in that class — because I think it is so important).

And, if you’re not quite sure you’re ready for that whole thing, check out my free prenatal class. It’s your first step toward getting in the driver’s seat of your birth. It even has some labor movement cards in there and reminds you how important MOVEMENT is too (in addition to breathing!