Gentle yoga and easy to follow
I used this video during my first pregnancy during the last 2 trimesters, and I really found it to be relaxing and I looked forward to doing it each day. I thought the stretches were gentle yet effective. I liked the relaxation techniques and the time spent connecting with your baby. This was really my first attempt at any kind of yoga, so I was afraid this would be too intense (I am not a very flexible person), but it was not at all difficult to catch on to and the stretches were not really difficult. I did notice that my flexbility significantly improved. There were some toning exercises involved as well, which I felt were the right difficulty level for a pregnant woman with a growing belly. I think that it also helped in my recovery time (although I had a c-section).

Very disappointing
When I first turned on the video I was impressed. There was yoga going on, the music is not too prominent or annoying, the voice of the (invisible) narrator is soothing, the background is nice, the woman does not hold the poses for too long so it is easy to follow and she does a short breathing or relaxation exercise in between the different poses to give me time to recover. Then, it became clear that the actual yoga part of the 60-minute video only lasts about 20 minutes and that included the breathing at the beginning and in between the poses as well as a 5-minute visualization of the baby. In all, there were only about 6 different poses to do. Then there is a long, (about 20 minute) "deep relaxation" section which I found useless because I have a 2 year old and I do not have the ability to lie on the floor and relax each of my body parts separately. If you *like* to do guided relaxation, I see no problem with it, however. There is also a section about nutrition at the end, and I don't know why it is there because it is extremely basic information you can get from any book or your healthcare provider and I wish the time had been devoted to doing more exercises. I was also particularly irriated that the one "birthing" pose shown was the supine (or back-lying) position with feet up as if in stirrups which is the WORST way to give birth, even though the narrator says that there are many ways to give birth, but for "educational purposes" the supine position will be shown. (???) I wish more time had been spent on the different ways to squat, as these are more natural birthing positions and require more exercise and practice beforehand. Instead of this video, I'm going to follow the extensive yoga exercises described in the book _Active Birth_ by Janet Balaskas and I will try to get along without a video to follow because this video isn't at all what I wanted.

empower yourself to have a wonderful birth with this video
I have been teaching Prenatal yoga for several years. I have seen first hand how the repetitive use this type of yoga can improve birth outcomes and the overall wellbeing of pregnant women. The video is very safe, gentle and relaxing, concentrating on breath work to release tension and stress. The main purpose seems to be to prepare the woman's body for easier and healthier childbirth. There seems to be a deeper purpose for which the other reviewers have seemed to overlook, and that is the hightened connection and bonding with the baby. Repetitive use of the visualizations and vocalizations are proven to enhance the mother-baby relationship in many ways. Most women don't understand how important the use of sound is in childbirth. This is the only prenatal yoga video I have seen that emphasizes practicing vocalization for pain management. Also a woman can take the skills learned to empower herself during the birth of her child. I highly recommend this video and it makes a great gift!

Left a bit to be desired
Although I am new to yoga I have done some and I was expecting more from this video. The background were sotthing and the music was relaxing but the yoga poses were too few. I don't feel like I have fully stretchecd. I also didn't like the EXTENDED visualization. You lie on your side for close to 15 minutes "relaxing to music" Over all I am very disapointed in the video. I guess if you are doing nothing at all it may be a good start. I did alot of research before buying this video and unfortunatly there dosn't seem to be too much out there in the way of yoga for pregnancy.

Gentle, relaxing beginner's video
I'd never done yoga before and would highly recommend this for other beginners. The poses are easy and safe, the stretches are gentle, and the narrator does a good job of explaining the poses. The backdrop and music were also relaxing and quiet, which I appreciated.

The video is structured well - starts with the poses, then has everything else that can be skipped (if you want to) at the end, including a nice relaxation and visualization segment and very brief vocalization, chanting and nutrition segments (the vocalization, chanting and nutrition bits are only worth watching once. The relaxation/visualization segment you only need to do with the video once or twice to do on your own - so, just watching the first part of the video is sufficient after the first couple of times.)