Welcome to Pregnant & Strong - this podcast aims to help more people feel mentally and physically strong in pregnancy. From myth busting, to conversations with experts - all mums themselves, to practical tips and sharing of research - the aim of each episode is to leave you feeling motivated and most importantly, empowered to move more during your pregnancy.

This is the final episode and is a little different from the others. Here I answer audience (and friends and clients) questions about all things pregnancy & exercise. We touch on lots of topics. This episode has to come with a trigger warning as I discuss exercise after miscarriage and baby loss, so please do skip that part or this episode altogether if now is not the right time to listen for you. I am really excited about sharing this episode, as many of these questions were questions I get asked a lot when coaching, with clients, and women I work with - I have added specific studies I reference in the chat - but please do get in touch if you would like me to share any more evidence or studies that support anything discussed. I hope, as always, that this goes some way to increase your confidence in how important movement is in pregnancy and helps empower you to make informed choices that leave you feeling mentally and physically strong on your pregnancy journey.

Studies referenced or mentioned in this chat:

Mottola MF, Nagpal TS, Bgeginski R, et al. (2019), Is supine exercise associated with adverse maternal and fetal outcomes? A systematic review. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53(2), 82–89.

Nina-Margrethe Theodorsen, Kari Bø, et al, (2024). Pregnant women may exercise both abdominal and pelvic floor muscles during pregnancy without increasing the diastasis recti abdominis: a randomised trial - randomised control trial, 100 women

Margie Dvenport, et al, (2023) Maternal and Fetal Cardiovascular Responses to Acute High-Intensity Interval and Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training Exercise During Pregnancy: A Randomized Crossover Trial | Sports Medicine | Springer Nature Link

Guidelines on physical activity in pregnancy - https://csepguidelines.ca/guidelines/%20pregnancy/

Resources & Recommendations to take away this week

Women’s Health Physio (Iona’s recommendation - her own physio)

Aby Tobin - Women’s Health Physio from Episode 3

Hayley Fishwick - Nutritionist - fertility specialist

Postpartum After Baby Loss - support for women and families after baby loss

Margie Davenport - expert in pregnancy and postpartum exercise

Dr Christina Prevett - Post Doc Research Fellow, exercise & pregnancy/ pelvic floor

Don’t forget to drop your comments wherever you listen to your podcasts, share with others, and spread the word.

You can find me on Instagram @strongwithionamumby

Welcome to Pregnant & Strong - this podcast aims to help more people feel mentally and physically strong in pregnancy. From myth busting, to conversations with experts - all mums themselves, to practical tips and sharing of research - the aim of each episode is to leave you feeling motivated and most importantly, empowered to move more during your pregnancy.

This chat was everything I had hoped for and more. Georgie is an old friend and one whom I have known through many phases of both our lives - this chat dived into our own personal experiences of connecting with our nervous systems, the journeys we have been on, and how this awareness of our nervous system supported us in pregnancy, birth, and beyond. We touch on sensitive issues such as postpartum PTSD and postnatal depression, and some other mental health-related topics. What Georgie brings to the pregnancy space is the belief that tuning in with our bodies, connecting with our breath, and using simple tools to shift our state to one that is more calm and balanced has an impact on key life events like birth. We try really hard to share positive strategies you can use easily at home throughout the episode, and Georgie also guides us through a gorgeous breathwork practice at the end of the pod, which you can take away into your day, week and moving forward.

We touched on postnatal depression and Georgie’s experience of this, we didn’t dive deeply into this topic, and so wanted to share some resources you could use if you feel like you are suffering from this or any other pre- or postnatal-related mental health concerns:

Resources to support mental health in pregnancy & postpartum:

https://pandasfoundation.org.uk

Georgie’s recommendations to take away this week were:

Yoga Nidra practice (free nidras available https://www.yoganidranetwork.org/nidras/

Breathwork

Georgie offers private online pregnancy yoga - please reach out to her here to find out more by emailing georgieburtinshawyoga@gmail.com or georgie_burtinshaw_yoga

Georgie discussed charities she is supporting that are supporting mothers and pregnant people around around world (in Gaza specifically) - if you would like to find out more or support them please see the links below:

https://www.gina.org.uk

Don’t forget to drop your comments wherever you listen to your podcasts, share with others, and spread the word.

You can find me on Instagram @strongwithionamumby

You can find Georgie on Instagram at georgie_burtinshaw_yoga

Welcome to Pregnant & Strong - this podcast aims to help more people feel mentally and physically strong in pregnancy. From myth busting, to conversations with experts - many mums themselves, to practical tips and sharing of research - the aim of each episode is to leave you feeling motivated and most importantly, empowered to move more during your pregnancy.

This chat is an honest and, at times, quite eye-opening chat about pregnancy and birth. This episode must come with a trigger warning - we discuss everything from baby loss, to sharing our birth stories in detail, to other pregnancy-related symptoms. Whilst we hope that the chat goes some way to open up the narrative around pregnancy and birth, and know that many of you will find this relatable and hopefully helpful, it may not be the right time to listen if the above content may be upsetting or triggering for you at this time. It is an extremely frank and unfiltered chat - and one that I think should be shared more and more often but it needs to be the right time for you to listen - so please feel free to skip this one or come back to it (just to be aware we begin to talk about birth in the second half of the pod so if you’d like to listen until then just stop when we get to that point).

I really hope this honest chat is supportive and that you find listening to two mums talk about their experiences, unfiltered, as refreshing as we did recording it.

Hayley’s recommendations to take away this week were:

Is it Normal - Jessie Ware podcast

Hypnobirthing Course - The Positive Birthing Company

Don’t forget to drop your comments wherever you listen to your podcasts, share with others, and spread the word.

You can find me on Instagram @strongwithionamumby

You can find Hayley on Instagram @hayleydoeshealth and on her nutritional therapy account @nesting.nutrition and her website https://www.nestingnutrition.co.uk/ - please do reach out to her if you are interested in working with her.

Welcome to Pregnant & Strong - this podcast aims to help more people feel mentally and physically strong in pregnancy. From myth busting, to conversations with experts - all mums themselves, to practical tips and sharing of research - the aim of each episode is to leave you feeling motivated and most importantly, empowered to move more during your pregnancy.

This chat was a real shift from the last couple of episodes, and one I think is super important. We delved into why community is so vital for expectant and new mums and how Katy has worked so hard to create a community space to support women in this phase of their lives. We discuss why connection is so important, how people can find this and get started, and what our vision for the future is. The whole chat is sprinkled with Katy’s calm, nurturing, and warm nature, and I am hoping this episode brings so much-needed calm and balance to the pregnancy and postpartum conversation. We do discuss our own personal experiences as well as those of the women we have coached or who have come to our classes or spaces, as well as sharing our expertise from a movement perspective. I hope those women listening who might be feeling isolated or lonely find this episode comforting and may just reach out and find a class or community space like the one Katy has created. It really can provide so much support at this time.

Katy’s recommendations to take away this week were:

The First Forty Days by Heng Ou

Don’t forget to drop your comments wherever you listen to your podcasts, share with others, and spread the word.

You can find me on Instagram @strongwithionamumby

You can find Katy on Instagram and Alchemy Space / Element Fitness London

Welcome to Pregnant & Strong - this podcast aims to help more people feel mentally and physically strong in pregnancy. From myth busting, to conversations with experts - all mums themselves, to practical tips and sharing of research - the aim of each episode is to leave you feeling motivated and most importantly, empowered to move more during your pregnancy.

This chat spans a wealth of topics - from receiving a cancer diagnosis during pregnancy and how people go about navigating this, to changing the landscape for health care professionals caring for pregnant people with a cancer diagnosis, to fitness in pregnancy, and even menopause. We touch on many sensitive issues, such as cancer and baby loss, and so this episode must come with a trigger warning. If you feel this is not the right time to listen to this episode, then please skip it and come back to it later if you like. What I would say about this chat is, despite the sensitive nature and Pete’s own story loss that sparked him founding the charity Mummys Star, as with all my chats with Pete - this one is uplifting, inspirational and comforting in so many ways - he sheds light on sensitive topics and is the epitome of someone using a situation of personal tragedy and loss to build something incredible and change many people’s lives.

Pete’s recommendations to take away this week were:

Accounts to follow:

Radchat - a podcast that demystifies many things around cancer, shares the human aspect of cancer and the stories of lots of different people - both personal experiences and healthcare professionals and is a wealth of knowledge in the cancer space.

Don’t forget to drop your comments wherever you listen to your podcasts, share with others, and spread the word.

You can find me on Instagram @strongwithionamumby

You can find Pete on Instagram through Mummys Star or his own personal account and the Mummy’s Star website, where you can find more about the work Pete and the team do, as well as additional resources and support should you need this.

Welcome to Pregnant & Strong - this podcast aims to help more people feel mentally and physically strong in pregnancy. From myth busting, to conversations with experts - all mums themselves, to practical tips and sharing of research - the aim of each episode is to leave you feeling motivated and most importantly, empowered to move more during your pregnancy.

This chat was enlightening, uplifting, and eye-opening, and I know it will bring support and practical advice to so many people who are both pregnant and postpartum. We covered everything from core and pelvic floor training and how this fits into the fitness landscape, how to access support if you are experiencing symptoms both pre and postpartum and some amazing insights, tips, and advice around the importance of movement in our overallhealth during pregnancy and postpartum, as well as how to get started safely. We hope you enjoy this chat - and that we have brought some humour and fun to a subject that can very often be taboo and not spoken about.

Aby’s recommendations to take away this week were:

Accounts to follow:

Midwife Pip

Dr Christina Prevett

Hatch Athletic

Don’t forget to drop your comments wherever you listen to your podcasts, share with others, and spread the word.

You can find me on Instagram @strongwithionamumby

You can find Aby on Instagram @thestrongmamaphysio and her website https://www.thestrongmamaphysio.com/

Welcome to Pregnant & Strong - this podcast aims to help more people feel mentally and physically strong in pregnancy. From myth busting, to conversations with experts - many mums themselves, to practical tips and sharing of research - the aim of each episode is to leave you feeling motivated and most importantly, empowered to move more during your pregnancy.

This chat mainly focuses on what happens in the lead-up to pregnancy, although we touch on pregnancy as well. In respect of this, please be aware that this episode comes with a trigger warning - we discuss the whole spectrum of fertility journeys, including miscarriage and so if this doesn’t feel like the right time to listen to the episode, we understand. Feel free to come back to it or skip this one altogether and join us later in the series when Hayley will be sharing more of her expertise around nutrition during the pregnancy and postpartum journey.

Hayley’s recommendations to take away this week were:

It Starts with the Egg - Rebecca Fett

At-home blood testing kit to identify any nutrient or vitamin deficiencies, which we discussed on the pod - Randox vitamin deficiancy test

Don’t forget to drop your comments wherever you listen to your podcasts, share with others, and spread the word.

You can find me on Instagram @strongwithionamumby

You can find Hayley on Instagram @nesting.nutrition and her website https://www.nestingnutrition.co.uk/

Welcome to Pregnant & Strong - this podcast aims to help more people feel mentally and physically strong in pregnancy. From myth busting, to conversations with experts - all mums themselves, to practical tips and sharing of research - the aim of each episode is to leave you feeling motivated and most importantly empowered to move more during your pregnancy.

This episode’s links and accounts to follow:

Hatch Athletic

This Woman Lifts

The Active Pregnancy Foundation

Here is the little present from me to you to celebrate episode 1 - a free core/ pelvic floor workout for you to try at home. No equipment needed - all I ask is that you are safe to exercise and if you are unsure about this or are suffering from any pregnancy complications, that you seek medical advice before giving it a go!

15 Minute Core and Pelvic Floor Workout with Iona

Don’t forget to drop your comments wherever you listen to your podcasts, share with others and spread the word.

You can find me on Instagram @strongwithionamumby