Scope
This is general teaching guidance for qualified Pilates instructors. It is not a clinical protocol, a diagnosis, or a prescription, and it does not replace assessment by a healthcare professional. Work within your scope: if a client reports symptoms that concern you, pause, suggest they seek advice, and only continue when they are comfortable to do so.
What the teacher is working with
Pregnancy is a clinical condition, and the client's maternity team owns the decisions about exercise, position and intensity. The instructor's role is to teach movement comfortably, not to prescribe what is safe for pregnancy. Ask what the client has been cleared to do, what has changed recently, and what feels comfortable today. The answer can change from week to week.
General teaching principles
- Let comfort lead. Positions that were easy last month may not be today. Offer alternatives rather than asking the client to push through.
- Keep the breath easy. The client should be able to speak a short sentence during the work.
- Support the body. The box, footbar, straps and a folded towel can make a position feel secure; use them freely.
- Shorten the session if needed. Fatigue, temperature and concentration change; a shorter, well-organised session is better than a full plan.
- Change position often. If a position becomes uncomfortable, move to another rather than holding on.
- Stop if the client feels unwell. Dizziness, nausea, pain, bleeding, contractions or fluid loss are reasons to stop and suggest they contact their maternity team.
Working with the repertoire
There is no fixed rule here. The client and their maternity team decide what is appropriate; the instructor offers options and observes comfort. Seated, standing, side-lying and supported positions are all part of the repertoire, and the same exercise can be taught in more than one of them.
For any family, adjust the range, the spring, the support and the time. Footwork can be taken seated or standing; arm work can be seated; leg work can be side-lying; the box can raise the hands and shorten the lever. The exercise pages list teaching precautions; treat them as prompts to ask the client, not as a prescription.
Language and referral
Do not tell a client that an exercise is "safe for pregnancy" or "not allowed". Say what the position asks of them and offer a choice. Ask permission before touching or adjusting the body, and check in regularly. If the client is unsure whether an activity is appropriate, the answer belongs to their maternity team, not to the studio.
Programming notes
Plan less than you think the client can do, and review each session. Record the positions and ranges that were comfortable, and start there next time. If the client's clearance or comfort changes, change the plan rather than asking them to fit the old one.