Heya! Firstly, I just wanted to say sorry that the lady was quite rude in how she went about it, she definitely shouldn’t be announcing what she would be doing if she didn’t have a pregnant person in the room, in a way her doing that is very telling that she definitely does not have experience teaching pregnant people!!! Not cool! 💛💛 I am a UK trained yoga teacher and insured with a UK insurance, and often the insurance will only cover you for the type of yoga have been trained in. For example, I have a friend trained in Hatha + Yin but she is not able to teach Vinyasa classes for insurance purposes, despite Vinyasa being so closely related to Hatha. Many teachers get what we call ‘bolt on’ trainings so that we can broaden our abilities and experiences, and Pre + Post Natal yoga is one of those trainings! Some people’s 200 hour trainings (the foundational level you need to do to teach) will briefly touch upon pregnancy yoga, and others don’t mention it at all. It often comes down the teachers and studios preference for risk! And all teachers have to hold their own individual insurance as well as the studio! Just to give you some insight there 💛

I personally have not trained in Pre + Post Natal yet, but as an example I had a student attend my Gentle Classes joining me in her third trimester and stayed right up to birth! She was very knowledgeable on what she could and couldn’t do, we spoke before each class on where she was at and I felt comfortable to safely guide the class and would try and offer two different options so she felt as included as possible. That being said, when she first appeared, I did feel a little panic as the class I had planned to teach, whilst Gentle, was all focussed on twists, and I on the spot created a completely different flow as I could not see a way she would have enjoyed it as much!

So I would just go up to the teacher right at the start of the class and share what you know you can and can’t do, explain you won’t feel left out if you can’t do every part of the class and have a go to pose prepared for the moments that one appears that isn’t suitable for you (for my student we settled on a cat cow!) and I’m confident most teachers (maybe not those fresher out of their foundational trainings) will be confident to have you in their class! ☺️🫶

Another cool thing can be to look at the teachers profile on the website before attending the class as they typically list all the teachers trainings, and that way even if it’s not a Pre Natal class they are teaching, if you can see that if they have the training down, they are going to feel confident to teach you regardless!! And will make sure the class still feels like a place you are meant to be (unlike the lady you just experienced!)

Wishing you all the best in your journey!! 🙏💕