A woman has described the moment her waters broke during a live workout watched by hundreds of people.
Holly Braithwaite, 36, from Liverpool, is the co-owner of POW8R alongside her partner Callum Webb. Holly is an advocate for training through pregnancy and is passionate about busting the myths surrounding exercise being unsafe for pregnant women.
In 2015, Holly qualified as a personal trainer, completing multiple courses including a pre and post natal training programme. Within three months, Holly took on her first pregnant client, guiding and advising her on how to train best for her level of fitness throughout pregnancy.
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Six years later she launched POW8R, an online fitness app that focuses on creating sustainable and achievable healthy lifestyles. The business now works with thousands of women who want to continue to exercise throughout their pregnancy.
Nevertheless, even Holly was unprepared for her waters breaking on a live workout being watched by hundreds while she was heavily pregnant with her first child Vogue. She said: “I had a feeling that my waters were going to break that day - but not on a live workout.
“It was about five minutes into the 30 minute workout and we were doing squats. I bent down when I felt this stream coming out of me. I know that labour can take hours so I just continued with the workout - it was all caught on video and now we look back and laugh.
“It was bound to happen to me when training hundreds of people live. Vogue wasn’t born until 24 hours later so she definitely wasn’t going to come during the class."
When Holly initially fell pregnant, she believed she would have to severely cut back on her exercises, but surprised herself with her body’s resilience. She said: “At the beginning of my pregnancy, I thought I’d only be able to maintain my usual workouts up until around six months, but I took each day and week as they came and listened to my body.
“If I needed to rest, I did, but there was no reason why I couldn’t train and so I continued to do so. It was mind over matter for me and it really is incredible what our bodies are capable of. I definitely reaped the benefits of training post birth and throughout my recovery.”
Holly argues that, if you are already partaking in intensive exercise, there is “no reason” why you should be fearful of keeping up your exercises. If this is not the case, she suggested light walks, prenatal yoga classes and swimming.
Having worked with women who have trained right through their pregnancy either up until birth or until a few weeks before, Holly claims they recover stronger and more quickly than women who didn’t exercise. She said: “I took seven weeks off training after birth and I still felt I had strength and stamina when I came back to exercise.
"This was down to the work I’d put in during pregnancy. If you listen to your body and train according to your fitness level, you’ll be benefiting both yourself and the baby.” Holly recommends applying the “talk test” to determine your level of fitness.
She said: “If you have music on and you can sing to it or you can speak to someone during your workout, you’re likely to be training at the right level for you.”
Holly and Callum’s real-time live workouts occur four times a week, where users can log on and workout alongside them both. There’s also a chat box for live workouts where members can communicate to help with accountability and interaction with other members.
You can find out more by visiting its website here.
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