Some people view a person's posture as a physical manifestation of one's inner state. During pregnancy, standing straight with your chin level with the ground, dropping your shoulders to a natural position and gently pulling in your abdomen can send an aura of self-confidence to those around you, including your baby. The right posture may also prevent back pain and elevate your mood. It actually has so many benefits that May has been declared National Correct Posture Month.

Stephanie Williams of Carrollwood, Fla., says she has stayed active during her third pregnancy by going to the YMCA, swimming, walking on the treadmill and riding a stationary bicycle. Williams had back pain when she was 6 months pregnant. "I had a prenatal massage and that helped," Williams says. "I was having sciatic pain and it helped a lot. Lately, I have been having heartburn, and keeping good posture helps."

Williams, who has two sons, Jaycob, 4, and Blayne, 2, says she is conscious about her posture when she sits down. "It seems like if I attend to my posture more, my back bothers me less," she says.

Dr. Dennis Woggon, founder and director of the St. Cloud Chiropractic Clinic in St. Cloud, Minn., and the author of more than 50 articles and books on spinal biomechanics, says women who are pregnant need to be mindful of good posture. "Posture is the window to the spine," says Dr. Woggon. "If you have poor posture, you can have a myriad of problems such as headaches, backaches, numbness in hands, constipation, neck pain [and] numbness in feet."

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