This heavily pregnant woman isn't about to let her impending birth stop her pole dancing

Have bump will pole dance!

For many mums-to-be the very thought of keeping fit while pregnant is enough to make them want to waddle back to the sofa for a well-deserved rest, but for others staying in shape is a must.

Just ask Charlotte Robertson.

The 29-year-old hasn’t let the fact that she’s seven months pregnant stop her exercise regime, even though it involves hanging upside down on a 7ft pole.

The fitspo from Durrington, Wiltshire isn’t about to let her bump get in the way of her pole dancing, and has even performed on stage at the renowned Pole World Festival in Bristol while carrying her first child.

“When I found out I was pregnant, my first thought was to protect my unborn baby,” she told The Sun.

“I knew I wanted to carry on with pole, but that I’d have to adapt.”

Charlotte, who is expecting the baby with her personal trainer partner Luke, 34, says it is only recently that her bump has started to get in the way of her regime.

The mum-to-be has always been into fitness – competing in gymnastics at an elite level as a youngster. Having first tried pole dancing six years ago to expand her fitness repertoire, she’s gone on to become a qualified instructor and compete nationally.

But though she was determined to carry on pole dancing while pregnant, Charlotte has taken precautions to ensure the safety of her baby.

“My midwives have been very supportive, and my doctors’ general consensus is that, because I did pole before, it’s fine to continue,” she continues.

“I’ve been listening to my body and would never do anything uncomfortable.

“With pregnancy, everyone is individual. I can still do things that other people can’t, and vice versa. For example, I stopped running at 20 weeks, but I know other people who’ve managed to keep it up the whole way through their pregnancies.”

And Charlotte believes continuing to exercise has helped her mental wellbeing during pregnancy too.

“It helps with energy levels and I’ve read it even helps with labour – I’ll tell you in 10 weeks if that’s true though.”

Charlotte has been sharing videos and images of her performing her pole dancing moves with her bump and though she’s only ever received positive reactions from her followers she’s well aware that exercising while pregnant can be a thorny subject.

“It’s all about what’s relative and works for you. If someone came to one of my classes pregnant who’d never done pole before, I’d tell them not to,” she explains.

“It’s easy to look at someone like me doing what I do on the pole and to wonder if I should be doing it pregnant, but I’d never do anything uncomfortable.”

Charlotte isn’t the only fitspo who has continued to exercise while heavily pregnant.

Anna Strode, a blogger and mum, didn’t let the fact she was weeks away from giving birth stop her challenging her husband to an extremely competitive workout. And totally beating him!

And fitness star, Inger Houghton shared videos of herself doing chin ups at 39 weeks pregnant, which sparked a debate online about the dangers of exercising with a bump.

So how safe is working out while pregnant and are there any dos and don’ts of hitting the gym with a bump? We spoke to the exercise experts about how to stay safe while trying to keep in shape.

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