the program | book concepts as trimesters | about us

Vision:
We have a vision that someday, for herself and her newborn, every pregnant woman will chose to follow a planned prenatal fitness program.

Mission:
Through Fit to Deliver, we want to ensure that pregnant women everywhere learn about, and participate in, a planned and carefully structured prenatal fitness program.

At Fit to Deliver, we will apply our collective knowledge and experiences, along with the resources of our peers, to provide women and their caregivers with the latest information on pregnancy and fitness. We will use that wisdom to develop programs, techniques, information, and supplies to help women apply that information to their prenatal lifestyles. We are dedicated to the belief that improved prenatal fitness offers mothers-to-be a healthier and easier pregnancy, a more comfortable delivery, and a happier, healthier newborn baby.

FIT TO DELIVER PRINCIPLES

The Fit To Deliver program follows three principles:

Prevention - By exercising throughout your pregnancy, concerns such as postural changes, low back pain, and Diastasis Recti can be addressed and dealt with as they come up. Our goal is to prevent or alleviate problems associated with pregnancy and beyond.

Preparation - We are here to help prepare you for the rigors of labor, by strengthening the muscles you will need in labor "baby pushers". Labor will probably be one of the more intense activities that you will encounter so preparing properly for it will give you the advantage. Once the new baby arrives you have to be ready to care for the infant 24/7, now all the strength that you have gained or maintained will be a useful asset.

Restoration - Now that the baby has arrived, the time that you spent exercising during pregnancy will now make it easier for you to regain your pre-pregnancy shape.

The Fit to Deliver Team

Dr. Karen Nordahl graduated from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. with a Bachelor of Science Kinesiology (Physiology) in 1987, and completed her medical degree at the University of British Columbia in 1989. She currently practices family medicine and obstetrics at BC Women’s Hospital in Vancouver, BC. Early in her medical career, Dr. Nordahl discovered that there was an enormous amount of information and misinformation surrounding exercise during pregnancy. Women who remained active during pregnancy had very little information available to them. Hence the "birth" of Fit to Deliver. Dr. Karen Nordahl joined forces with Carl Petersen in 2000 to develop the first edition of ‘Fit to Deliver’. The program now includes prenatal and postnatal fitness classes in Vancouver BC, Prenatal Exercise Instructor Certification Programs in Canada, US and the UK, and ‘Fit to Deliver’ second edition published October 2004. see complete bios here
Carl Petersen is a Physical Therapist and Fitness Coach. He is a Partner & Director of High Performance Training at City Sports & Physiotherapy Clinics in Vancouver, Canada. He has lectured nationally and internationally at numerous conferences on many aspects of physical therapy, physical training, sports training and pre-post natal exercise. His past roles with the Canadian Alpine Ski Team gave him the opportunity to coach and design training programs for Olympic "Gold", World Championship "Gold" and World Cup medalists. Petersen has also worked as a consultant to numerous sports groups in the area of physiotherapy, injury prevention and fitness training. He currently works as the physiotherapist and fitness coach with a variety of athletes from the club level to World Cup Skiers and professionals on the WTA tennis tour. As well Carl has written two sports training books Fit-to-Play Tennis and Fit-to-Ski. He currently takes an active interest in educating and assisting women in exercise and injury prevention throughout the childbearing years. see complete bios here
Renee Minges Jeffreys graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Russian History in 1993. After completing her first marathon 1994 she went on to obtain aerobics and personal training certifications. An avid runner, Renee immediately became interested in women’s health issues, wondering specifically how women would be able to maintain their fitness levels during pregnancy. This passion for women’s health and fitness led to graduate school. In June 2001 Renee completed the course work for a Masters of Science in Exercise Science focusing on Clinical Exercise Physiology from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Her thesis was entitled “Do commercially available prenatal fitness programs positively effect labor and deliver, physical discomforts during pregnancy or maternal self-esteem?” This study was initiated during an internship with James F. Clapp, III, MD, an expert on prenatal fitness. She and Dr. Clapp are also collaborating on a study investigating exercise in the supine position and its impact on uterine blood flow. see complete bios here

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