Five Fitness and Wellness Classes for Pregnant Parents-to-Be
Who says it has to be all about baby? These five prenatal fitness classes and spa treatments put the spotlight exactly where it should be: on the parent-to-be.
Illustration by Jeannie Phan
For Interval Training
Fit4Mom North Shore
You know you’re in good hands when you take a class at this well-loved Peabody facility, where owner Elis Mimmo and her team specialize exclusively in pre- and postnatal fitness classes. The gym’s interval-based Fit4Baby class, for one, is a 60-minute mashup of low-weight strength training, gentle cardio (think: side steps and high knees), balance exercises, and stretching. Not sure the workout is for you? Try it anyway—here, the first class is always free.
Peabody, northshore.fit4mom.com.
For Prenatal Massage
Bella Santé
Heaven knows pregnancy can make sleeping a challenge—and things don’t exactly improve in that department once your bundle of joy arrives. Thankfully, Bella Santé aims to help you relax while you still can with its “Prenatal Escape” offering, a service that targets stress and muscle fatigue while also promising to improve sleep. Featuring a calming Swedish massage, a bamboo body scrub for sore ankles and feet, and a soothing scalp treatment, the 80-minute experience is a treat for the senses—if, that is, you can stay awake for the whole thing.
Back Bay and other locations, bellasante.com.
For Zumba
Healthworks
Does the thought of growing your family have you doing a happy dance? Channel that ready-to-move, nesting-mama energy into a prenatal Zumba class, courtesy of Healthworks. Now in its 45th year of business, the women-only gym offers a cardio-forward prenatal dance workout on demand through its newly revamped HWX Digital Studio—which means even your partner can join in on the fun.
For Reflexology
The Littlest Spa
From the ever-multiplying to-do list before your little one comes to the natural worries that crop up with major life changes, there are any number of reasons you might feel anxious during pregnancy. Reflexology, a therapy believed to have originated in ancient Egypt, might be able to help. During 45- and 60-minute sessions at the Littlest Spa in Natick, owner Amy Elizabeth massages specific pressure points on your feet—relieving tension and triggering a rush of oxytocin (the so-called love hormone) in one fell swoop.
Natick, thelittlestspa.com.
For Prenatal Yoga
Coolidge Yoga
A key goal of any good prenatal fitness program is prepping the body for labor and recovery. A mom herself, Coolidge Yoga instructor Stacy Nazzaro takes that charge to heart, leading hourlong yoga sessions focused on expansive breathing, meditation techniques, and modified core work that strengthen pelvic-floor muscles. And now, thanks to the studio’s brand-new postnatal class, students have a platform to continue their practice—and bond with other new moms—after their babies are born.
Brookline, coolidgeyoga.com.
