YouTube videos of professional dancers in action usually leave people astonished by the dancer’s talent. But a recent video of a mom-to-be twerking is causing jaws to drop in shock as some question whether her moves could hurt her unborn child.
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Elena Yatkina, a 25-year-old professional dancer from Novosibirsk, Russia, recently uploaded a video to her popular YouTube channel of herself dancing alongside three other women. Yatkina is due in a few weeks, but that didn’t stop her from keeping in perfect sync with the other dancers.
Not all of her fans loved this latest video. Many rushed to the comments section to tell her how what she was doing was dangerous for the baby, that she could harm the baby with all those squats and booty shakes and that she should be resting instead of dancing.
Really people? Not only is Yatkina a professional dancer who knows the limits of her body better than anyone watching her performance on a screen, but she presumably also has a doctor with whom she consults with about what activities she can safely do while pregnant. If she’s comfortable doing these moves, then that’s her decision to make, not anyone else’s. Even if the intentions behind the comments are well-meaning, women don’t need other people giving them unsolicited medical advice about their pregnancies, especially when it comes in the form of trying to shame a mom-to-be for enjoying an activity she loves.
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In fact, in spite of what Yatkina’s naysayers may think, sitting around and doing nothing while pregnant isn’t actually the best thing for you or your baby unless it’s what your doctor recommends. There are a ton of benefits to maintaining a regular exercise routine while pregnant, like reduced risk of backaches and fatigue and stress release. It can even help your body build endurance for labor and possibly help protect against gestational diabetes.
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Pregnancy is an amazing thing, and expectant women should totally feel entitled to sit down and take a load off if they want to. After all, they’re building an entire human from scratch. But our bodies are designed to both be pregnant and continue to do the things we love to do at the same time if we want. As long as your doctor is on board, there’s no reason not to continue to swim, run, lift, or even, like Yatkina, twerk. There’s no reason to avoid most activities simply because you’re pregnant. Years ago, if you lived on a farm, you couldn’t tell the cows to go milk themselves or the eggs to gather themselves because you were pregnant. The idea that women are supposed to rest our bodies during pregnancy is a new one, and while being offered a seat on the subway is usually welcome, we are strong and our bodies are capable of being physically active while pregnant.
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