Pregnant pole dance instructor continues to perform at 35 weeks

Tabitha Vincent is a 23-year-old pole dance instructor from Perth, Australia. She also happens to be 35 weeks pregnant. While many women would have backed off on performing such gravity-defying stunts at this point in their pregnancy, Vincent plans to continue practicing her skills right up until the end, hoping it will take her mind off labour contractions.

“I saw a video go viral of a lady pole dancing to bring on her labour and thought I’d love to do the same thing,” Vincent tells the Daily Mail.

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“I have a pole at home, so if I have time during my labour I’ll definitely have a little play on it. If nothing else, it’ll keep my mind off the contractions.”

Vincent has been dancing for around four years and practices around three times a week on her pole at home. Six months prior to getting pregnant, she landed a job as an instructor.

“I hadn’t been teaching for very long when I found out I was pregnant,” Vincent explains. “Obviously, with the outfits I wear to teach, there’s no hiding my bump, so I had to tell my employer a lot sooner than most. They’ve been really supportive though.”

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Vincent has also assured students that just because she’s gaining baby weight, it won’t stop her from helping them achieve their weight loss goals.

As expected, many have been critical of Vincent’s continued efforts to dance, suggesting she is putting her unborn baby at risk.

“I try not to pay attention to them,” she says. “I think the people posting are just ill-informed. Obviously, my baby’s health is the most important thing to me and I’d never do anything to jeopardize that.”

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Like any responsible mom-to-be, Vincent made sure to check with her midwife before continuing to dance and was assured it was OK, as she had already been doing these moves prior to being pregnant. While she admits to cutting back some of the more extreme moves or moves where her bump gets in the way, she believes the exercise has helped her avoid pregnancy symptoms like nausea and back pain.

“If everything goes well and I have a straightforward, natural delivery, I’m hoping to be back on the pole as soon as possible.”

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