Birthlight Forums

Someone in my class said that stretching the arms above the head can lead to miscarriage? Is this true? Is it connected to stretching the soas muscle? Are there any teaching points I should use when getting women to reach their arms above their heads? Thanks

Hello Amrita,

There are many cultures with this saying. Recently I was challenged about it in Russia and my reply that I have not found the rationale underlying this statement.  Medics think it's an old wife tale.  Normally I take the view that when many people round the world share a belief there may be some truth behind it, but so far I have not found what this truth could be. I do not think the psoas muscles are involved in this possibility.  I wonder if someone may have a folk explanation that could provide a lead. Thanks for starting a new lead,

all best wishes from Francoise. 

This is an interesting thread. I had not come across this idea until recently when someone in my pregnancy classes mentioned categorically that women should not raise their arms above their head at all in pregnancy. They were initially unsure as to why and where they had heard it but thought that it was because raising the arms overhead increased blood pressure - they did not mention miscarriage at all. I have only recently started training with Birthlight but have been teaching pregnancy classes for many years and have included stretches for the latissimus dorsi and side waist with the arms overhead and have not had any issues with women miscarrying.  I also am not aware of the rationale for this thinking but it is interesting that it is a belief carried across a number of cultures. 

Physiologically I am not aware of evidence to suggest that raising arms overhead causes any significant increase in blood pressure for the length of time taken for these kinds of stretches/postures.    In a normal pregnancy, the cardiovascular system can usually accomodate for this change in body position without any adverse effects. Additionally these types of stretches are not usually sustained for longer than a minute or two before changing to another posture, making it also unlikely to have any detrimental effects but I am always guided by how women are feeling through the classes.  If there is excess pressure around the neck area/upper ribs due to the change in body shape and centre of gravity a very small percentage of pregnant women can experience dizziness or numbness in their arms due to circulation compromise but this usually only happens if the posture is sustained (e.g not a class situation where you are moving regularly but more likely to be something like painting/cleaning walls where the overhead work is sustained). I wonder if this belief is held across different cultures that are more manual in their work, where women continue to be quite physical throughout pregnancy and may be involved in sustained overhead work (picking fruit/slashing crops etc.) following observations that sustained overhead work for long periods of time may affect some women adversely... I will be very interested to know other people's thoughts on this. All in all,  I think it is always important that women are guided by how they feel with all the different postures that are practised in different classes. 

xxxxxxx

I am in agreement here with the general flow of what is being said here. I think that taking the precaution of asking everyone if they are comfortable and that they are happy to raise their arms above their head, is good practice for all exercise. Personally I had not been told this during either of my own pregnancies, and this forum is the first time that I have been aware of this. I spent a great deal of time during my second pregnancy practicing aqua yoga, whilst on the part 1 course in the very early stages, doing my coursework throughout the pregnancy and teaching up to 3 lessons of aqua yoga a week, not to mention the dry land practice of the moves to write the plans and then help to memorise them for the classes. My blood pressure remained a healthy level throughout. In fact, at night would probably have caused a worse risk, as through both pregnancies, i would wake up with both my arms totally numb, due to how i had to lay during later stages of pregnancy. This never caused any problems with my blood pressure, and the total numbness and inability to move my arms for a few minutes, was far more extreme than anything I could have felt whilst raising my arms for a short time. I have had a lady whose blood pressure was slightly raised when she started attending the classes, and to her midwife's surprise and delight, her blood pressure lowered enough that she continued safely passed her due date and on to have a natural birth. Her 1st baby had been induced a little early due to her blood pressure. At the time of teaching her, I was not aware of this idea of not raising arms above the head, so she had done the exercises with arms raised too. I think from my own point of view, I will be cautious now with ladies who have reported a raised blood pressure to me. As Wendy has said, I think it is a case of taking great care to ensure that we are all guided by the way each individual in the class feels for every exercise. xxxx