The Miracle Ball Method for Pregnancy: Relieve Back Pain, Ease Labor, Reduce Stress, Regain a Flat Belly

Every year, four million women experience the joy of pregnancy—along with backaches, indigestion, sore feet, and difficulty sleeping. And after baby arrives, that persistent postpartum belly. Now proven relief is here. From Elaine Petrone, author of The Miracle Ball Method, with over 1.1 million copies in print, comes The Miracle Ball Method for Pregnancy, a program designed to help women deal with the pains, stress, and physical changes of pregnancy, and then help them regain a flat belly afterward.

Elaine Petrone, a former dancer who created the original Miracle Ball Method to heal herself after suffering a career-ending injury, developed The Miracle Ball Method for Pregnancy after her own high-risk pregnancy with twins. The Miracle Ball Method works because it's the un-exercise: muscles relax and become supple enough to allow the body to realign and reshape. The program starts with how to breathe properly, and why focusing on exhalation strengthens the diaphragm and relieves anxiety and fatigue. There are movements for specific problem areas—Neck on the Ball, the Rib Cage Side Stretch—and whole-body moves like Standing Body Hang Over. There are also variations to use in later months, when it's no longer advised to lie flat on your back. The final exercises help reshape the body after birth, plus address labor, breastfeeding, and carrying a new baby around, now on the outside.