Last week I was invited to Mamas & Papas new store in Clapham, 144 Northcote Road. In an age of high street domination by big brands, I’ve been impressed by how Mamas & Papas have defied convention, and actually really thought about their customers needs. Firstly a flagship store in Westfield which offers a personal shopping service, to cover all your needs. And now a part boutique and part community space experience, at 144 Northcote Road. This isn’t a traditional shop as you’d know it. They’ve teamed up with fitness studio Frame, to offer weekly pre/post-natal yoga classes, nutritional advice and workshops.
I was invited to take part in a pre-natal yoga and Pilates class lead by the pregnant owner of Frame, Joan. It took place in the store’s fitness studio. It’s a very calming space, white curtains line the room, and the motivational message: Enjoy the Little Things is lit up as you workout. Now I’ve been to several prenatal exercise classes and the one thing that seemed absent from them was any degree of actual exercise. They were all very relaxing, but I can do that by lying in bed.
This session was brilliant. Admittedly I arrived out of breath, but that’s just a #37week Twiglet squashing my diaphragm. But the moves were actually challenging, and after 45 minutes I felt well exercised and sweaty. In the past few weeks I’ve been struggling to walk, due to the relaxant that kicks in pre birth that has made my left hip dodgy. If I stand up too quickly, my leg just gives way. Comedy. Joan specifically tailored the exercises to help stabilise the hips. She also gave us some helpful stretches to relive heartburn, by creating space for baby. I’ve been using these regularly, most often at night when it keeps me from going back to sleep.
I had a long chat with Joan after the class about pregnancy and nutrition, particularly post birth. I loved Joan’s take on it, it takes 9 months to grow a baby, so it’ll take 9 months to get your body back into shape. Fantastic, no celebrity style diets for me. She also, had lots of great suggestions for high-energy food to eat whilst breast-feeding, oats in all their wonderful forms (including flap jacks and cookies). She’s currently set up @mum_hood on Instagram with great exercise and nutritional tips for pre & post-natal mamas alike. Do check it out.
For those lucky enough to live in Clapham, classes will be starting from September 2016, to find out more please visit www.mamasandpapas.com
Frame also do pre/post natal classes in their studios across London, click here for the timetable and details of locations.
Thanks to @mamasandpapas for inviting me to a great day, but one question? When are you launching this concept in n4?
