February 5, 2026 · 45 minutes · Episode 497
About this episode
What if the way we prepare women for pregnancy, birth, and recovery is fundamentally broken? Alex Redelico and Dara Cook come together from two high performance worlds to challenge fear based narratives around perinatal fitness.
Connect with the guests:
Grow with us on IP+! Informed Pregnancy Media presents two all new intimate short-form video series following Garrett and HeHe’s real-time pregnancy journeys as they prepare for an empowered birth and postpartum experience. Each episode features weekly updates with personal photos and videos to help bring these raw stories to life, a visually dynamic guide through each mother’s emotional and physical experiences.
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Key quotes
“Reduces the risk of everything from premature birth to postpartum depression by double-digit percentages.”
“I really went for it and felt honestly during both second trimesters and into the third even I felt like a superhero.”
“But my ultimate plan was whatever happens happens as long as me and baby are safe.”
“Your heart is pumping up to 50 more blood and when you're thinking about training for a marathon, yoga wouldn't cut it.”
“Makes everything better. I always say movement is magic and especially through pregnancy.”
Related episodes
- Ep. 495 Postpartum with Amanda Nordelius & John Russell
- Ep. 493 In Conversation with Esther Friedman Schwartz
- Ep. 514 Before Baby #4 with Kara Sutton
- Ep. 500 The Unexpected with Dr. Elliot Berlin Part 1
Transcript
AI-generated transcript with speaker labels — may contain errors, especially names and medical terms. Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC appears in blue; Alex Redelico and Dara Cook in orange.
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [0:00] What if the way we prepare women for pregnancy birth and recovery is fundamentally broken not because of bad intentions But because we've underestimated what pregnant and postpartum bodies are actually capable of Today's guests come from two high-performance worlds that rarely collide elite entertainment production and elite strength training One helped shape some of the biggest moments in pop culture history and the other built her body and her career through professional dance Strength training pregnancy loss and recovery Together they're challenging fear-based narratives and redefining what prenatal and postnatal fitness can look like when it's medically informed
[0:38] emotionally intelligent and genuinely empowering and now you can watch some of the select workouts from their platform on our informed pregnancy plus Streaming channel because the way we support movement and pregnancy has lasting effects on birth Recovery and the entire postpartum experience. I'm pregnancy focused chiropractor Dr. Elliott Berlin and you're listening to the informed pregnancy podcast Alex Radeliko and Dara Cook. Welcome to the podcast Thank you so much for having us. Thank you. So happy to be here. I'm super excited about what you're doing You know, I have a practice all day every day full of patients who are pregnant or recently had a baby and during pregnancy
[1:31] One of the most common frustrations I see is I don't know what I can do workout wise when I'm pregnant I want to exercise even if I'm not really an exercise person or even if I am an exercise person Did I want to work out even more while I'm pregnant? But I see all the time not really sure what I can do what I can't do if you go online you read all Sorts of things, you know You can't even look north if you look online because who knows what that could do And so when it comes to exercise I see the frustration because my patients tell me if I could afford a prenatal Trainer a few times a week. I would go get one, but I can't do that either So I end up under exercising or being afraid to exercise at all and you guys are changing all of that
[2:11] I want to get into the programming that you're doing and how you came to it and how people can find it But let's start at the beginning with your backgrounds Dara. You are not a parent but yeah Deeply invested in maternal health. What drew you into this space?
Alex Redelico and Dara Cook [2:30] Yes, so it was really three things that came together my professional life my passion and my personal life So on the professional life side, I started my career at MTV so yes, I went from MTV to maternal health and an MTV I was a producer on the original TRL with Carson Daly. I'm aging myself I was head creative of the MTV Video Music Awards for years including many of the iconic moments there I was brand manager of Nick Cannon's Wild and Out and I learned how to produce great content there And then my passion was fitness So at one point pre-pandemic I was a member of five different gyms And what I was seeing in those gyms and those span from high-end like equinox all the way down to
[3:19] YMCA's and community health centers was all of a sudden around 2015 I started to see a bunch of pregnant women in group fitness classes and I noticed that across the board they were being underserved So I would see in equinox where people paying hundreds of dollars a month a group fitness instructor Say in the middle of a class. Oh, no you in the third trimester. You shouldn't be doing this I'm gonna come up with something else for you, etc So I realized that there was a gap between What pregnant women were seeking and the solutions that were out there and then in my personal life? My sister was pregnant with her first child over the age of 35, which we all know
[4:06] Yes The old geriatric pregnancy as they used to call it and her OBGYN said to her you need to exercise Exercise to reduce your risk factors and my sister listened to her doctor and She exercised throughout her pregnancy and I was there the night that she went into labor and It was so fast. Her husband could barely park the car The OBGYN on call was in the room for 15 minutes When she walked out she looked back at my sister and she said did you exercise and my sister said yes My doctor told me to and the physician said I noticed that women who exercise have labors like this and that's when everything came together and I realized at that point that that labor had defied my
[4:59] expectations pun intended of what a labor of Someone who was 35 plus with their first child would be I thought that I would be able to go home go to sleep and Come back and she'd still be in labor That wasn't the case and when I got home after our whole family enjoyed my beautiful niece who's now eight years old. I looked at the research and saw that what the OBGYN on call said was not anecdotal that There have been years and years of research that show that maternal fitness which means exercising in pregnancy and postnatal Reduces the risk of everything from premature birth to postpartum depression by double-digit percentages and I realized at that moment that it was going to be my life's mission to make it easy safe and
[5:53] fun for women and their babies to reap the vast benefits of maternal fitness and that led me to bring my professional life of creating content my passion for gyms and The story of my sister of my personal life as a beacon to create expect which is now the only prenatal postnatal and pelvic floor fitness Platform where every workout has been approved for safety by practicing physicians
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [6:23] Well, it's quite a trifecta of different points coming together to lead you to this one spot very specific spot Maternal training is so important. Like you said, I you know, I was a doula for a long time and If you Google doula my face never shows up even on I'm not the poster child for doula, but But you do you see I think a combination of people who are pretty fit as long as they're not too tight We generally have a great birth experience or at least they're set up for a much better birth experience And again the problem is where can you get the training even people very comfortable working out sort of get nervous the way we treat Pregnancy is such a delicate thing. Even if you're under the 35 year old age also there
[7:09] I love the pun intended. This is you're speaking to me as a dad now My kids have recently told me one in 300 lands and then I gotta start again I actually think there should be like almost a governmental agency in maternal fitness and if there is we should call it the maternal training board and You should be the president of it. Well, it'll be MTB MTB. Yes We can have the MTB Awards All right, Alex your roots are totally different professional dance and then strength training and How did that come together with your passion for pregnancy?
Alex Redelico and Dara Cook [8:06] Well passion for pregnancy it is I actually am very lucky to love being pregnant and having been pregnant I will hope to be pregnant for a third and final time But it really did become a passion from my passion for dance Which led into me recognizing that in order to stay healthy in my dance career and injury free or at least heal from injuries At a more rapid rate I had to maintain a strong body and build my muscle mass and I needed to cross-train if you will like day A lot of dancers only dance and that's fine But at some point it be you realize that you get injured doing very dance specific things and if you cross-train and add in strength training lifting weights a little bit of hit and
[8:48] Power training that is not the case and that definitely goes your rate of injury gets much less and I Experienced that personally and so I kind of once I sort of phased out of my professional dance career after I did a Few tours and a bunch of regional work. I Sort of made my way into the fitness There was a slight transition time But I made my way into the fitness realm and really fell in love with helping myself Helping others that were dancers and then eventually it took me some time actually to get into the prenatal postpartum world of fitness I was training moms and moms to be before I even got pregnant myself Yeah, it was awesome. I had certifications, which was great
[9:33] But it also you can't really understand what it's like even though I had all this like no This is safe or like no try this or adapt this or until you feel it yourself There really is nothing that compares to the knowledge that you gain from it the experience of being pregnant
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [9:50] So it made me have a new series that we have on informed pregnancy plus right now the growing series and we follow Women through their pregnancy week by week that each have an interesting story And one of them is called growing with hee-hee and her name is Haley Stewart Her nickname is he and she was a doula for ten years before she had her first baby And so we track her through the entire pregnancy week by week and it's really interesting to watch her experience for the first time firsthand Everything that she's been coaching people through for ten years and how it's like well You know, I've seen this in my clients dozens and dozens of times, but to feel it is totally different
[10:27] So what you're saying makes a lot of sense. Yeah, what was your what type of dance?
Alex Redelico and Dara Cook [10:31] How old were you when you got into dance in the first place? Um, I was like 10 probably like oh really into yeah Yeah, yeah super late In the grand scheme of like the dance world I wasn't like a kid who was like Oh my mom had me in dance from the age of three I did take a little bit longer to fall in love with it I did gymnastics for a long time growing up Like I tried every hobby horseback riding all these things and then I really landed I thought my mother because my mother was a dancer and so she kept pushing me to be and I was like now and then finally and Finally I was like, okay fine So I started dancing more seriously around like 12 13 and then I really fell in love with it around
[11:10] It took a few years like 16 17. I was like, oh, I think this is what I want to do with my life
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [11:15] So was there a particular genre you were focused on?
Alex Redelico and Dara Cook [11:19] Yes, I started in concert dancing ballet modern contemporary And then once I moved to New York and realized there was not a lot of job opportunities Especially ones that could afford me the lifestyle to live in New York and actually pay for my rent I quickly kind of switch I also sang a little bit and wasn't as strong of a singer as a dancer but I worked on it and I Became more of a singer so that I couldn't use a more musical theater And so I wound up being more in the musical theater field I was privileged enough to tour with West Side Story a few times like the dream. Yeah, it was awesome
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [11:54] Nationally and nationally Wow, there's two things. You probably don't know about me number one. I'm a theater major Yes, that's awesome and number two I used to be a big dancer Well, I've only danced probably three times in my whole life, but I felt big all three times
Alex Redelico and Dara Cook [12:11] I mean that is what's important
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [12:13] Well, I'd like to dance so we did like salsa class one time and then with the kids we homeschooled for a year So we did like a hip-hop class one time But literally three times in my whole life that I can remember dancing, but I did feel big. Okay
Alex Redelico and Dara Cook [12:25] Yeah, and that's what's important But I think maybe what I hear you saying is something I also hear from other dancers is that Their workout was dance rather than dancing and also working out some other way Yeah, so what I feel is that it's like a lot of professional athletes I mean dancers are professional athletes if you're a professional dancer But any type of athleticism if you do it all the time it kind of becomes your baseline and so it's always a necessity in my opinion to no matter what your Field is to strength train on top of that intentionally with dance with athletics You're always kind of single-sided. You're never training. Oh, I did all this on the right
[13:08] So I'm gonna do all this on the left Maybe if you take a ballet class that is true but in any type of choreography or any type of sports like look at pictures and They're always using like the same mechanics of one side of their body Which is why they're always ending with crazy injuries on one specific side and very specific injuries and that Dictates itself to every type of athlete across the board and Moms are kind of very much lumped into this prenatal being pregnant is very much lumped into this because you are very Much adapting on one side like your pelvis is shifting all these things like your round ligament I had a ton of round ligament pain
[13:45] So all these very like sports specific quote-unquote because being pregnant is a little bit of a it's a little bit of a sport Injuries can come into play and so you have to train Intentionally to avoid those injuries or at least deal with them better if they do come into your path
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [14:00] Yeah, that makes a lot of sense to me. Yeah. All right. I'm already learning. I'm about to learn a lot more Let's take a little break when you come back I'm gonna find out how these two powerhouses came together and what it is that you built once you got there We'll be right back We're talking to the rock hook and Alex predelica, okay, how did you guys meet?
Alex Redelico and Dara Cook [14:32] Alex and I met really through MTV so I shared with a good friend of mine from MTV that I was looking to apply what I had learned at MTV and How to create amazing compelling content and bring that into the maternal fitness space and she said you have to speak to Gillian Tarnaski Who like me got her start at MTV and then she went on to the MSG network where she won an Emmy and Gillian really made her name also in producing fitness content, which is a different Mindset than some of the things that I was used to producing and you're still in a studio But we would produce events that had dance in it But fitness is a different animal altogether and Gillian had that expertise
[15:25] so she was a producer for live fitness classes on class paths and other major platforms and She said when we started working together We have to get Alex in and what was fantastic is that Alex was actually pregnant at the time so Alex became such a star of our platform and She's really telling a story because we see Alex pregnant and then she comes back Postnatal to teach additional classes and me coming from the world of media Storytelling is very important. Even if you're doing it through disparate fitness videos you get to see the journey and That's what Alex brings
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [16:11] That first pregnancy for you was unexpected are we back with the puns
Alex Redelico and Dara Cook [16:17] Yes, the puns all day. I'll take them. It was it was I'd say my very first pregnancy was unexpected I got pregnant in August of 2020 and It was like, you know the thrust of the pandemic and my partner and I lived in a very interesting New York style railroad apartment and I was like wait, we can't have a baby in this apartment. We'll kill each other This is no like space to we have a dog There's just too many things and so it gave us an opportunity to be like do we actually is this what we want? Are we ready to move forward in this way? You know, I was 36 at the time and we decided, you know This is I was 35 if that pregnancy had been viable It would have I would have been 36 but I had the baby but I wound up miscarrying
[17:05] And it actually was very sad and very upsetting But it also was a blessing in disguise because it gave us an opportunity to kind of wrap our minds around the idea of growing our family and if we were really ready for it and I found out about six weeks in that I had miscarried and after that we Decided let's do this. Let's actually try let's go for this. I knew that recurrent miscarriages could be an issue I have a gene mutation called factor five. It just makes me have a higher rate of clotting You knew that already I Did know that because I got I was very lucky to years previously when I was like 25 or 26 I started losing vision in my left eye and I thought at first that I just had like scratched my cornea or something
[17:53] and so I went to my ophthalmologist and he's like actually you have like elevation in your Optic nerve and you're you have a lot of weird things happening Do you know how doctors like to really just with no emotion at all? Just say you might have a brain tumor. Yeah, I was like, oh, okay He's like, let's schedule an MMP. I was like as some like balling and he's like he's like no it might not be that And I was like, well, that was a real So it wound up being that I have this genetic mutation and I wound up with a blood clot in my retinal artery called a CR a central retinal vein occlusion and it was because I had been on Hormonal birth control for a couple years of my life and with the factor 5 gene mutation women really shouldn't be on a hormonal birth control
[18:39] You should be on a non hormonal or super low hormone birth control. So I found that out the hard way But yes Definitely a important blood test to get young women to find out if and when they should be on birth control but that is the way that I found out that I had this gene mutation and I also when reading about it and learning more about it as a 20-something-year-old I found out that recurrent miscarriages were a part of what could happen if and when I decided to Grow our family or become a mom. So when I found out I was pregnant I kind of had this feeling of like oh I need to keep this in mind going forward So then when I did miss Harry, of course, I was sad, but I was kind of like, okay
[19:14] this is potentially par for the course we just keep trying and it was a nice soft opening if you will into the conversation of Okay, let's actually try for this and I wound up having an additional miscarriage from like November to December I miscarried like early December 2020, but by that time we'd been like let's get out of this apartment We found a new apartment. We moved we got nice pandemic pricing on our apartment, which is a beautiful thing And then and yeah, I mean for New York It was still absurd but it's better than it was and then we got pregnant officially in January of 2021 I found out like late January and then I had my first official like prenatal appointment in March of 2021 and
[19:56] Nope 2022. Sorry. I'm lying about timelines 2021 and then I wound up having many in 2022 Yeah, I'm a year behind but in November of 2022. I had our first son on November 1st
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [20:09] Yeah, it's amazing how you could tell that story in two minutes Just thinking about all the different stops along the way and emotions Even just the first one finding out you're pregnant when you weren't expecting it Oh, yeah might not have been ready for it. What emotion that is and then maybe we are ready for it And then you lose it. It's just a rollercoaster Yeah, it really was did you end up having to take blood thinners during your pregnancy?
Alex Redelico and Dara Cook [20:33] Not during which is a perfectly then to like the reason I didn't have to take blood thinners even at the you know extremely old age of 36 I I Because I was fit and in generally good health They did not recommend even with the genetic mutation that I take it all of my numbers really good my blood pressure was like low if anything like lower than average and so They said unless we see a reason to we don't think you need to be on blood thinners postnatal I was I was on a blood thinner for six weeks and I got to learn how to use a subcutaneous injection on myself Which was fun, but I did not have to I just took a single baby aspirin and that wasn't even necessarily
[21:12] For a blood spinning it was for to help prevent preeclampsia. So sure that was on one a day No after a couple of miscarriages like for some women, I think they'd be more nervous to exercise during a future pregnancy Absolutely. Yeah, so I was I say more Careful my first trimester until I got the go-ahead but even so I think because the one thing with pregnancy and information that's out there that I think is Worth listening to for sure is that whatever baseline you're at already I think unless a doctor says otherwise that it is safe to continue and Expand on that your baseline once you are pregnant So I felt really strong that maybe I scaled back the weights
[21:57] I was lifting I scaled back the intensity a little bit, especially in the first trimester Also, just not to mention any body who's been pregnant out there knows that the first trimester is rough So it was a very a come-as-you-are and do what you can do basis like some days I was like I need a nap instead of a workout and so I would take a two-hour nap you have That luxury when you're pregnant with your first baby the second baby not so much so I would definitely listen to that I would just listen to my body and if I Felt like I could handle a workout or it was what my body needed then I would do that and then It's not I would take rest or eat a delicious meal or you know
[22:37] Like whatever I just listened to what I felt I needed in that moment and then once I felt better in the second trimester and was less nauseous and less exhausted and less just the exhaustion isn't the fatigue and exhaustion is just was my most intense symptom of pregnancy Especially the first trimester and I got very very short of breath too. So it was very bizarre and Funny story I actually that is how I found out I was pregnant second time I we live in a fourth-floor walk-up and I was like, I think I'm pregnant again because I would walk up the stairs and Be like I have to catch my breath and that was my symptom of how I found out I was we weren't like officially trying with our second we were like, oh, let's we're not trying and we're not not trying
[23:20] You know, but definitely that was my first like inkling that I was pregnant with my second was that I could barely walk So once those had subsided those symptoms and I felt stronger my second trimester I really went for it and felt honestly during both second trimesters and into the third even I felt like a superhero I was like lifting really easily felt super strong I would get out of breath more easily obviously but like I just felt so Connected to my body and to my a little baby that was growing inside me. It was a really beautiful thing
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [23:52] Yeah, that's pretty cool Okay, so for that first birth Did you have sort of a mindset on what you wanted the birth to be like and did it follow that plan?
Alex Redelico and Dara Cook [24:05] Yes, of course, you know everyone has their birth plan their loose birth plan that they it's an LOL to think that you can have A have a birth plan, but my birth plan was hey, this is what I would like to do I would like to be intervention free. I would like to have a vaginal birth I would like to create some sort of ambiance in the hospital room that feels more like an at-home birth because I was way Too nervous to have an at-home birth and a birthing tub in our very small in New York apartment would be hilarious so I got a I Was delivering at North Shore University of College in Long Island in Great Neck So I knew that I would have my own personal room, which was really important to me
[24:45] Postpartum and so I was like I had all these plans for and within even the delivery room I had I got I brought like electric candles and had a playlist and all the stuff and I got induced and I was two weeks post my due date and I had all these plans in place, you know for just taking my time and easing in and even though I was being forced to be induced like just like Listening to my body and trying my best not to get any intervention of any kind and I did not go as planned Wanted being induced my body took well to the induction at first and then I had my water broken which probably in hindsight was Something I should not have done but you know, it's all kind of 2020
[25:26] so I kind of rushed my body into something it wasn't ready for and In that time I wound up getting an infection into like 28 hours of labor I wound up getting an infection called choreo and I had to be put on You know Tylenol and I had to get an epidural to like ease the pain because with that Infection the pain of the contractions just like your uterus becomes so tender that it just like skyrockets So my contractions felt like they were like a 30 instead of a two So yeah, it did not go as planned But my plan was to be you know, like super woo-woo within a hospital and that's not that's not the way it went And it's okay. I've come to terms with it, but it definitely I had a very loose plan
[26:08] but my ultimate plan was whatever happens happens as long as me and baby are safe as long as We're supported and are come out of this on the other side it's okay like and that was kind of I was leaving it in the hands of the professionals and Whoever could get my baby to Earth side safely, but it was definitely a little traumatizing at first. I will not lie
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [26:31] Right. I mean that oftentimes especially I think when you are strong and fit and healthy and You push your body to perform in all sorts of ways that a lot of us can't Then it seems to be a letdown when it doesn't do what you're wanting it to do
Alex Redelico and Dara Cook [26:49] Yes, I kept saying that it was like an event. I was training for I was like I got this This is I'm like I'm literally training for this I'm doing all the right things quote unquote whatever that means and it's gonna be great like and then you know people On the outside are like oh, it's gonna take you 10 seconds to give birth You're so strong of it. And so I do you get these things how you're like, yeah I it's gonna be great like gonna be smooth like the easiest birth ever and it's okay It's just a very humbling experience and that you know, I'm human who knew I have two pregnancy books for you to write
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [27:19] One of them is gonna be called not not trying There's all colleges of children Yes, correct from that method and the other one is hindsight is 2022 All right, let's take a break when you come back we'll find out how round two went for you But then also the expect app and everything that goes into it and how we can benefit from it. We'll be right back
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [27:59] Welcome back. We're talking to Dara and Alex Alex, you know, I think it's a very Unfortunately common birth story that you have We have this vision and you do all sorts of prep and then you get there and it goes a different way Everybody grateful that you and the baby are healthy on the other end But there's also some sort of loss of an experience that you wanted to have to mourn And I see frequently people feeling let down. How was postpartum for your post-eserion?
Alex Redelico and Dara Cook [28:27] Post-eserion was definitely easier Because I was straight so even though my fitness and all of the things that I did to prepare for The birth of my dreams, you know didn't pan out the all the work and training that I did prenatal and before prenatal like in my Non-pregnant life really helped me recover much quicker, especially from a first the serine section you know, it's a really I know people kind of just brush it off because it is a It's such a common thing these days to get a c-section But it is major abdominal surgery and it is a doozy if you don't Especially if it's not what you thought was going to happen in my brain Like there was no way I was getting a c-section
[29:08] So I didn't even really have had the chance to wrap my mind around How I would handle it if it did happen because I just had put it out of my mind but my strength and my muscle mass that I had and my movement abilities While being pregnant in every trimester through every trimester, like all of the work that I did definitely helped me Postpartum in recovering much faster and even though I still had to move much slower I was much more capable than I expected to be and that Traditionally people are when they experience and have a c-section So I felt very lucky and very in tune with my body still even though so many things had happened in my abdomen
[29:52] I still felt connected to it I felt like I could still pick up my baby safely and get up out of the bed safely in the middle of the Night to feed him and so I was very grateful for all the work that I had done Even though it didn't necessarily help me in my labor and delivery. It definitely helped me on the other side
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [30:07] Very quiet and I'm sometimes blown away by how quickly People do recover from cesarean birth and especially if there's a fitness level, you know How eager they are to get back walking at first and then you know exercising more and actually there's a good number of practitioners here who will check before six weeks to see if there's readiness to get back into exercise because not everybody needs six weeks and I just see some people so eager to get back into their fitness Sometimes sometimes too eager, but sometimes like I'm down Healthy eager. Yeah I saw because my wife insisted on getting pregnant again our second time before I lost all the weight from the first baby
[30:49] And then I gave up on it, but she got right back into fitness, you know And was super healthy and ready for that second baby. So alright So during that pregnancy and again during postpartum you guys were feverishly working on putting together Fitness programs for the expect app. What was the process of putting together those programs?
Alex Redelico and Dara Cook [31:13] the process started with talking to the experts in maternal fitness so We spoke with initially dr. I'm in Lee at Harvard Medical School who is now our Medical advisor and dr. Lee co-authored the biggest studies on the impact of prenatal fitness on Preeclampsia and gestational diabetes and we told her this is what we're looking to do We'd love your input and she said I'm so glad that someone is finally putting the science to work and she recommended we speak with the head of the American College of Sports Medicine who Thankfully because of the recommendation from dr. Lee took our call and We asked him. So dr. Berlin you talked about what you see in your practice
[32:03] So often is that you see pregnant women who want to work out whose doctors have told them to work out But they don't know what's safe to do right and these are rightful concerns So the head of the American College of Sports Medicine Talked about the changes that happen in the body in pregnancy where you would really want to do Modifications on Your previous fitness programs and he shared that with us. We realized that there was a there there So we created a process a medical review process that no other platform has one of our concerns when we and we understand why people are in this space of not knowing what is safe because Most of the maternal fitness protocols don't go under medical review. So
[32:52] every workout and expect goes through an independent review by practicing OBGYNs from different hospital systems so we can get a variety of perspectives and so the physicians include OBGYNs maternal fetal medicine doctors urogynecologists for the pelvic floor workouts that we have and These physicians are they're brutal and so they get paid to review Okay, so they're getting paid the same amount whether they say no to a workout or they say yes And when we started expect very beginning even before we started shooting original content with Alex and all the other incredible trainers Is that we actually? licensed some of the best Prenatal fitness content out there and we found that 50% of it was flagged by our
[33:47] OBGYNs what a lot of it was flagged for worth This is not actually really good in the third trimester, right? That was one of the number one things that came up because of the shifts in the center of gravity And that that's what the head of American College of Sports Medicine talked about the shift in the center of gravity and pregnancy how that can increase fall risk and people have asked us why Did we work with OBGYNs well the OBGYN becomes that first call that you make right? So if there's something untoward that happens in your pregnancy, so our OBGYNs were very sensitive to anything that may cause someone to call their OBGYN for an issue So that's the process so every workout goes under review by the OBGYNs
[34:33] We have gotten rid of entire exercises because of them We have edited things out. We have added instruction in We shoot our workouts live. Someone asked me once. Oh, you have so many workouts. Did you make them on chat GPT? I thought that was hilarious. Like no, they're actual humans in a studio and they're pregnant and They're postnatal So expect has humans in the app when we thought it was really important for us to the cast Until we have obviously fitness professionals like Alex who were teaching the classes but we have everyday women who are working out to inspire moms and We have an array a broad array of fitness programs So whether you're focused on cardio strength dance pelvic floor
[35:26] We have walking workouts in I know dr You talk about women looking to get back especially walking after a c-section and we're rolling out that whole program we have What we believe is the best? Pelvic floor program. It's called pelvic floor rescue Designed by a board certified pelvic floor physical therapist approved by urogyne oncologist and women are using that in particular postnatal to prevent symptoms of incontinence, so That's the the app in a nutshell and we looked at some of the really big fitness platforms i'm not going to name the one in particular, but We have three times the prenatal fitness content of that and just being a small company
[36:14] We're really able to do it the shooting of it and make it so great because of jillian tarnaski and Instructors like alex who has made it so easy and fun
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [36:24] and I think what you're describing the Expertise that goes into it and the medical guidance that goes into it kind of helps you take a deep breath and relax and feel confident That this is going to do all the good things you want without doing the bad things you don't want Correct. I don't know. You probably don't know this but around 12 years ago I think I tried to find the solution for my patients who were so frustrated not knowing what kinds of workouts they Could do and I teamed up with a fitness expert and we started a program called gaga fit Oh wow, and the idea was to do group workouts that we could modify depending on your level of fitness and depending on where you were in the
[37:03] Pregnancy the various trimesters or postpartum and it was coming together really nicely until we got a c cindy sys letter from Lady gaga. Oh my god. I was like of course you own gaga I think it was around before you Goodness referred to babies. Anyway, that whole thing fell apart. We didn't have the To pick up the pieces and rebrand and do it all over again So i'm really glad that you have come along and put this together with the expect I know you're going to help in myriads of people and is it available around the world? It is uh, so expect that means It's your public floor program is available in continents
Alex Redelico and Dara Cook [37:44] Yes, it is
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [37:47] I know I love that. Oh the dad joke
Alex Redelico and Dara Cook [37:52] We're gonna use that we actually just got an email from a woman in italy who is using Expect for pelvic floor rescue. So yes expect is available in the apple store the app store It's available in the google play store and it includes Pelvic floor rescue. So you see our hundreds of prenatal fitness and i'm someone who myself I like variety so Before expect the vast majority of prenatal fitness focused on yoga And to zoom out pregnancy has a similar impact on the body is running a marathon Your heart is pumping up to 50 more blood and when you're thinking about training for a marathon Yoga wouldn't cut it. So A variety of exercise including cardio including strength, especially when you're thinking about
[38:44] Reducing your risk of gestational diabetes. That's really really important So that exists on the app and you can download it Immediately from the app store and we intentionally have it available as an app because we know the challenges of Being pregnant or being a young mom that transportation and child care become issues And we worked with the university of alabama at birmingham We actually have a study ongoing with the university of alabama at birmingham And they have at their facility and it's one of the greatest academic medical centers in the country They have a full exercise and pregnancy clinic there It's got Treadmills with extra bars on it to help with balance etc
[39:33] But they wanted to work with us because they said the women who need to be here the most who at the highest risk of Complications, they can't get here because they have to work or they have child care issues transportation, etc. They said in the summers in Birmingham as you can imagine it's too hot to walk in the street, right? And they say well at least you can walk for exercise Well, not when it's 90 degrees and you've got that advisory on your phone So what they loved is an opportunity for people to have access to on-demand medical grade entertaining Beautifully shot fitness that they can stream on their phones as easy as youtube You can play a video on youtube
[40:19] You can play expect and you can cast it to your screen So if you have 10 minutes at 5 in the morning, you can work out with us Whenever you can fit us in and our pelvic floor rescue is audio-based. So you can be I actually use pelvic floor rescue myself And I use it on the subway and no one knows what i'm doing, right? No one can see that i'm engaging my pelvic floor on the subway. Yes, I know Yes, and I have on my headphones, you know, i'm listening to pelvic floor rescue
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [40:51] You're doing it wrong if they can see you Doing Well, I am very impressed by and we're so honored to host some of the videos on informed pregnancy plus Uh grateful that you shared them with us in our audience so they can get a taste for it and then Shift over and get the full program Through your expect app but when we watch the content originally when we're looking at working together I was super impressed and also the feedback already coming in from our subscribers is that the quality is really wonderful like they're fun to do because of just the whole thing the look the feel the music the instructors the passion from the instructors and also the people in the background who
[41:36] Maybe they can relate to more than the instructors and feel like they can do these workouts and succeed It's all very very well done and your two strengths that each of you bring to it shine And uh really work well together and I would say like peanut butter and chocolate But I don't know if that's the right thing for a fitness app. That is actually okay. Perfect. Yes Do you have a final thought either one of you that you'd like to share
Alex Redelico and Dara Cook [42:02] I just want pregnant women across the board to Feel empowered to move and I hope that this act really helps them Be inspired and feel comfortable moving in their pregnant body and in their postpartum body Because it's a truly new space that you are going to be moving in All these women say oh I want to get back to how I was and that's just not realistic Like no one will ever get back to how you are and that's not necessarily a bad thing That is the beautiful thing. We evolve as humans mentally and physically after we have a baby And it's a really magical experience it could be a very scary experience as well for a lot of people but moving Makes everything better. I always say movement is magic and especially through pregnancy
[42:48] It is what kept me mentally sane through pregnancy through all the hard times Especially my second pregnancy with a toddler running around it was like my respite in having a second to regroup and just focus on myself and I hope that women award themselves that opportunity Either pre-pregnancy thinking about getting pregnant while they are pregnant and postpartum It is so important and I think it's not the best thing you can do one of the best things you can do Whether you're pregnant or not, but especially throughout pregnancy and postpartum
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [43:23] Well said I really appreciate both of you for coming on and sharing your backgrounds and Sharing your personal stories and what led you to make this wonderful app. Where can we find everything online?
Alex Redelico and Dara Cook [43:37] So our website is expect.fit F-i-t so instead of dot-com it's f-i-t And you can type in to the app store or the google play store expect fitness and you will find us there
Dr. Elliot Berlin, DC [43:52] I am a new yorker. I don't really talk like that anymore, but I am a new yorker I want to go back home and visit new york. I'm gonna have a whole new respect for what people are doing on the subway Thank you for that and again Thanks for sharing the expect app and for making this great resource available to pregnant and postpartum people around the world And at home, thanks for listening to the informed pregnancy podcast for more pregnancy and parenting information just like this Visit us online at informed pregnancy.com
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