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The term "belly-dance" often creates an association with the glamorous world of the stage. For this reason, quite a few people will probably look at this article with skepticism.
However, belly-dance, pregnancy, and childbirth are in harmony, since it is presumed that belly-dancing has its origins in birth and ritual dances. It is a dance created by women for women who still had profound instinctive knowledge of their bodies. This means that today's pregnant women may benefit from ancient cultural traditions.
The impetus to see a relationship between the belly-dance and pregnancy and childbirth was given to me by midwives. They have continuously pointed out that certain body postures and movements from oriental dance correspond to those used in antenatal preparation. My colleagues in physiotherapy, obstetrics, gynecology, and ethnological medicine have supported this opinion. have developed a prenatal program, based on the belly-dance and its physical and emotional effects, which is both well-- grounded and adapted to the needs of pregnant women.
Apart from aspects concerning baby care and breastfeeding, the program includes everything covered in a prenatal course. I recommend that women expecting their first child attend traditional prenatal classes. Women expecting their second or third child don't necessarily need this. They are looking for a way to relax, find their inner selves, and get better acquainted with their bodies, the baby, and the process of birthing.
When allowed to move during childbirth, many women instinctively start moving their pelvis in hip circles which are typical of a belly-dance. Women who know about the benefits of belly-dancing can use these instincts even more effectively. However, we should not take the word "dance" so literally. No woman dances during childbirth, but she can use elements of this dance in order to find relief, satisfy her urge to move, and help her cope with pain in labor. When speaking about birth dances among African or Arabic tribes, we find that the dances are mostly done by women who dance around the woman in labor, doing birth-like, wavelike movements, thus encouraging her energetically. The woman in labor herself imitates those movements every now and then and then goes back to resting.
During pregnancy, however, we may very well talk about dancing. Since the pregnant woman's focus...