I was teaching eleven pole classes a week when I found out I was pregnant with my first child.
My first reaction? Devastated.
Not about the pregnancy — I was happy about that. But pole was my life. It was my career, my community, my training, my identity. And suddenly I didn't know what any of that would look like on the other side.
That was over twelve years ago. I've been through two pregnancies, two very different postpartum returns, a career shift, and a complete reshaping of what pole means to me. And I wouldn't change any of it.
But if you're a pole dancer who's pregnant, newly postpartum, or wondering if your relationship with the pole will ever feel the same again — I want to share what it was really like.
Teaching Through My First Pregnancy
When I fell pregnant with Archie, I was still teaching — and I wanted to keep going for as long as I could.
The biggest change was letting go of the physical parts I couldn't do safely. Anything heavily core-focused came off the table pretty quickly. Inversions got pulled back. My body was telling me what it needed, and I listened.
The studio I worked at was incredible. They immediately found me someone to come into my classes and physically demonstrate the moves I couldn't do anymore. My job became talking people through the technique — explaining how to get into the position, what to feel for, what to adjust.
Here's the thing I didn't expect: it actually made me a better instructor.
When you can't just show someone what to do, you have to truly understand it. You have to find the words. You have to think about how a move feels from the inside, not just how it looks from the outside. That season of teaching from the sidelines gave me a depth of coaching ability I might not have developed any other way.
Coming Back After the First Time
Postpartum was hard in ways I hadn't fully prepared for.
My body had changed. Some things that were natural to me before simply weren't anymore — not because I wasn't strong enough, but because things had physically shifted. I'd had an epidural, and the muscles in my back had tensed in ways that affected my flexibility. Moves I'd done without thinking for years suddenly felt different, or weren't available to me at all.
You grieve that a little. Nobody really talks about it — the quiet loss of capabilities you took for granted. But you also adapt. You find new things. You rebuild.
There was also the reality of juggling a baby and classes and training and everything else. Pole was still my career, still my passion — but I had less time, less energy, and a whole new set of priorities to balance.
The Second Time Was Different
When I fell pregnant with my daughter, I had to stop teaching much earlier.
Severe heartburn and reflux meant that any time I went upside down — or honestly, any time I went up at all — I'd be hit with it immediately. My body made the decision for me. I stepped back from teaching sooner than I wanted to, and I made peace with that.
But coming back the second time was harder emotionally than the first.
With Archie, I'd been itching to get back. With my daughter, I found myself happy just being in the bubble. Home, baby, quiet. The pole world — the studio, the community, the classes — felt far away in a way that didn't feel wrong. It just felt like where I was.
It took me a lot longer to come back. To feel ready. To want to get back up on the pole and be around the community again. And that was okay too.
When I Eventually Stopped Teaching
As both kids got into primary school, my afternoons became about them. School pickups, after-school activities, the rhythm of family life. I was working full time during the day and then the evenings belonged to them.
Teaching eleven classes a week wasn't something I could hold onto anymore — and honestly, I didn't want to. That season of my life had shifted.
I let go of teaching without letting go of pole.
Where I Am Now
These days, I go to a pole jam once a week. Just for me. To keep up what I have, to move, to be in a room with people who love the same thing I do.
I'm still utterly obsessed with it. That hasn't changed.
Pole has looked different at every stage of my life — competitive training, full-time teaching, pregnancy modifications, slow postpartum returns, weekend jams squeezed around school schedules. It's morphed and adapted and shrunk and expanded depending on what life needed from me.
But it's always been there. And it has genuinely, completely changed my life.
If You're Going Through This Too
If you're pregnant and wondering how to navigate pole — know that modification is possible, and a good studio will support you. Listen to your body above everything else.
If you're postpartum and things feel different — they might be, and that's real, and you're allowed to grieve it while also being excited about what comes next.
If you're in the baby bubble and not ready to come back yet — that's a valid place to be. There's no timeline. The pole will still be there.
And if pole has been a huge part of your life and you're scared that pregnancy will take it away from you permanently — it won't. It might change it. It will probably change it. But it won't take it away.
If anything, it'll make you love it more.
Have you navigated pregnancy or postpartum as a pole dancer? I'd love to hear your story — drop it in the comments or find us on Instagram @rarrdesigns. This community holds so many stories worth telling.
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