Lori Bilbrey	- Download MP3-

Time was, pregnant women took it easy: Bed rest and gentle workouts were typically recommended as a pre-delivery regimen.

Today’s women have more options. For example, prenatal yoga for general fitness, stress relief and breath control is becoming more popular in Chattanooga.

“Yoga is everywhere. I even saw a picture of someone doing yoga on a cup from McDonalds,” said Sara Mingus, a longtime Chattanooga yoga teacher.

According to Boston-based yoga leader Baron Baptiste, more than 30 million people practice yoga in the US today.

Yet yoga classes for pregnant women aren’t new, said Lori Bilbrey, instructor at Clear Spring Yoga downtown and owner of Moon Haven Studio in Ringgold.

Area women may be embracing yoga because they’re more active in general, said Dr. Janelle Simpson, a 36-year-old physician and homemaker living in North Chattanooga.

“I took hot yoga (a vigorous form done in heated rooms) throughout my pregnancy — but I’m pretty physical. I did an Ironman when my baby was 10 months old,” Dr. Simpson said.

In her native Holland, prenatal yoga is as common as prenatal checkups, said Ingrid Broeksma, a 26-year-old artist who takes prenatal yoga classes at Clear Spring Yoga.

Yoga during pregnancy is especially popular among those who prefer natural or home births, said Rachel Fee, a 27-year-old Greenlife cashier who attends a Clear Spring Yoga prenatal class.

Rebecca Uselton, a 40-year-old nurse at Parkridge East taking prenatal yoga classes at Clear Spring Yoga, said there are still people who don’t know about the benefits of prenatal yoga.

“A lot of people are not aware of its availability and benefits,” she said.

Medical benefits of yoga are not established — few studies have been done, and mainstream medical institutions have not widely recommended the practice.

Yoga teaches breath control, relaxation and concentration, and provides joint relief, stress relief and a support group of other pregnant women, Ms. Fee said.

While delivery is still no “cake walk,” her fear of it lessened through yoga practice, she said.

“My yoga practice helped me listen to my body, connect with my baby on a different level and have a little more control over (my body),” she said.

Medical school taught her little about pregnancy and fitness, Dr. Simpson said.

“They encouraged women to walk and do gentle things,” she said.

Today, women are running until “well into their pregnancies” and some are even mountain biking, she added.

While mountain biking is discouraged, prenatal yoga is safe, she said. Hot and other vigorous forms of yoga, such as ashtanga, will need to be modified as the pregnancy progresses. But fit women don’t have to rule them out.

“I wouldn’t encourage a woman to start hot yoga while pregnant, but if you’re already conditioned to it, do it, but go to a cooler part of the room,” Dr. Simpson said.

Prenatal yoga classes

* Clear Spring Yoga, 17 N. Market Street, (423) 266-3539, www.clearspringyoga.com

* Erlanger East, 1755 Gunbarrel Road, (423) 774-0466

* Moon Haven Studio, Ringgold, Ga., (706) 965-6650, www.moonhavenstudio.com