Japanese Maternity Aerobics

According to Wikipedia pregnancy is considered a period of mental and physical discipline for women in Japan. The outcome of one's pregnancy is directly tied to the mother's conduct. The Japanese believe that the woman is responsible for minimizing miscarriage and premature birth. They believe woman need to "try as hard as possible at whatever one does".  I am a great example of this motto. Woman, including myself, are often reprimanded by their ob-gyn for gaining too much weight. My doctor tells me that I need to try harder to meet his weight goals for myself. He has even lectured my husband Justin to help me with these goals. I am trying hard to attain his goals with keeping my baby in mind. I try to just fly under the radar to avoid having to be put on a vegetarian diet (which he is recommending).

At this point in my pregnancy (34 weeks) I have gained a total of 20 pounds. I was told by my American doctor to gain 25-35 pounds throughout my entire pregnancy. So, by these standards I am right on track. However, I now have a different ob-gyn with an entirely different outlook of my weight gain. He does not want me to gain any more weight throughout the rest of my pregnancy. Keep in mind that at this point the baby should be gaining about 0.5 pound per week. Thus, he wants me to essentially have the baby gain weight while I lose weight. Seems pretty impossible.

From what I learned, most Japanese doctors want their moms-to-be to only gain a total of 8-12 pounds. An unattainable goal for myself. As I hope my baby is over 8 pounds! I want a chubby little guy to take care of.

So, because I have gained too much weight, my doctor has prescribed mandatory pregnancy aerobics. He thought my running and going to the gym six days a week was not good enough, because I need to "try as hard as possible to avoid a most severe labor and delivery." That was enough motivation for me, since the Japanese culture does not believe in pain medications during labor!

Wednesdays and Fridays have now become my aerobics day. Days I truly look forward to! I love my new aerobics class that is offered right at my clinic. I love the whole scene. It is not just an aerobic class, but a pregnancy group help session. Not only do we exercise, but our blood pressure and fetal heart beat is checked before and after the aerobics. We also get our weight checked and fill out a form that goes over how we have been feeling and any questions and concerns. We then go through this information person by person as our instructor gives advice about how we can cure back pain, constipation, insomnia, and any other aches and pains. She is a great resource to answer any questions. Of course my hero of a translator, Tomoko, is there with me! Poor girl has learned more about pregnancy and labor than she ever wanted too! However, I think she gets a kick out of watching me try to fit in since I am so much taller and bigger than everyone! I bet she got a good laugh at watching me do the aerobics as well!

At the end of the session after we check the baby's heart rate and my blood pressure, we go through different breathing techniques that we will need to use in the up and coming weeks. Practice makes perfect they say, and I need all the help I can get!

I can't wait for my next session! What a wonderful class for expecting moms!