Pole dancing mum-to-be performs gravity-defying tricks at seven months pregnant
Charlotte Robertson, 29, of Durrington, Wiltshire, was once crowned UK Elite Pole Champion and even performed on stage at five months gone
A POLE dancing mum-to-be has told how she still performs gravity defying tricks at seven months pregnant.
Fitness fanatic Charlotte Robertson, 29, can still hold herself upside down and has even performed on stage at the renowned Pole World Festival in Bristol while carrying her first child.
The 29-year-old from Wiltshire explained: “When I found out I was pregnant, my first thought was to protect my unborn baby.
“I knew I wanted to carry on with pole, but that I’d have to adapt.
“It’s only recently that my bump has started to get in the way.”
Charlotte, who is expecting a baby with her partner Luke, 34, a personal trainer, has always been into fitness – competing in gymnastics at an elite level as a youngster.
Around six years ago, she decided to try out pole-dancing to expand her repertoire, and was instantly hooked.
She studied to become a qualified instructor and soon began competing nationally.
Now, she leads workshops all over the world and has even been crowned UK Elite Pole Champion.
Charlotte said: “Pole allows me to get back to my gymnastic roots and I find it really fulfilling, for both my competitive and training needs.
“I can stay fit in a way I enjoy. It’s fun, creative and always challenging.”
Earlier this year, Charlotte, who also owns an active wear company called Live Love Bend, discovered she was six weeks pregnant.
Up until 12 weeks, she continued her pole work-outs as normal.
Then during routine scans, doctors told her they would need to conduct further investigations to determine whether the couple’s unborn child had Down’s syndrome.
As they waited for the results, Charlotte rested up – before receiving the all clear two weeks later, at which point she decided to get back on the pole.
“I was very careful. Nothing exercise-wise will harm the baby, so the tests were nothing to do with that,” she said.
“My midwives have been very supportive, and my doctors’ general consensus is that, because I did pole before, it’s fine to continue.
“I’ve been listening to my body and would never do anything uncomfortable.
“With pregnancy, everyone is individual. I can still do things that other people can’t, and vice versa.
“For example, I stopped running at 20 weeks, but I know other people who’ve managed to keep it up the whole way through their pregnancies.”
At five months pregnant, Charlotte felt so energised that she even decided to perform at a pole event, taking to the stage in front of around 200 people.
“I was still able to do a lot of the same tricks as before, but obviously less intensely,” she said.
“At 24 weeks, things got a lot more challenging, so I wound it down even more.”
“Mentally, though, I think it’s really important to keep the fitness up. It helps with energy levels and I’ve read it even helps with labour – I’ll tell you in 10 weeks if that’s true though.”
While Charlotte has not received any negative reactions, she is aware that working out during pregnancy is a hotly debated issue.
She explained: “It’s all about what’s relative and works for you. If someone came to one of my classes pregnant who’d never done pole before, I’d tell them not to.
“It’s easy to look at someone like me doing what I do on the pole and to wonder if I should be doing it pregnant, but I’d never do anything uncomfortable.
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“My first instinct is always going to be to protect my baby.”
Last year we told how a pole dancer entered a competition when she was seven months pregnant.
We also reported how an incredibly agile pregnant mum pole danced while in labour.