Book review: Breathe your way through birth with yoga

There are plenty of books out there on how yoga and pregnancy - fewer on the role of yoga at birth. Julie Llewellyn-Thomas' new book is a clear, practical, down-to-earth guide to how yoga and proper breathing can help.

Llewellyn-Thomas is a Birthlight teacher for pregnancy yoga and also for baby yoga - so comes with plenty of hands-on knowledge.

Her premise is that yoga and labour are naturally suited. "Yoga is the breath - the two cannot be separated", she writes. "Deeper breathing will lengthened breaths will provide mental focus and increase endorphin levels..."

Learning to slow down your breathing calms emotions and has a positive effect on your whole body, enabling you to work with your contractions rather than being overtaken by them.

One of the notable positives about this book is its readability and clear lay-out. There are plenty of practical "what's going on" boxes and step-by-step guides to each part of labour.

There are also lots of suggestions - accompanied by pictures - for adapted yoga poses to prepare for birth: mountain pose, moving squats, mini squats and pelvic floor exercises.

Also, suggestions of positions that can help during labour itself. The author is keen to stress that you can remain in control, and makes the valuable point that Western society is often over-keen to medicalise the birthing process.

The book finishes with a chapter on yoga for mother and baby, and a welcome glossary of terms.

www.birthlight.com