by Pam Noonan, Certified Ma Yoga® Instructor
Motherhood deserves specialized care and attention. This viewpoint developed early in my nursing career as my passion for nursing evolved into a passion for obstetric nursing. I was “floated” from my Med/Surg unit to the maternity ward, to cover for a nurse who called out sick.
I quickly learned the specific care and education pregnant and postpartum women need before, during and after childbirth and discovered that I loved it. The nurse for whom I covered quit, and I was never sent back to my old unit. Lucky me, getting hired directly into a Maternity or Labor & Delivery unit is highly competitive.
Fast forward to the end of my bedside nursing career, having been an L&D nurse, Obstetric OR supervisor, and Perinatal Clinical educator, I wanted to continue helping women through their childbearing process.
What I learned over the years boiled down to me combining my first passion, obstetric nursing and my other passion, yoga. Here are three foundational truths, according to me.
One, a woman tends to prioritize others above herself, often to the detriment to herself. Two, at all times, but especially during pregnancy and post-partum, a woman benefits from listening to her body, mind, and spirit. Listening and tending to the wisdom her body is pronouncing can help relieve the weight from truth #1.
Three, feminine power has been and still is hard-won. She needs others who care and support her. Thankfully, women tend to do this for one another. That brings me to where I am today, focused on care and support through yoga at the nurturing motherhood time of life.
Since I am no longer at the bedside guiding her through labor, attending her delivery, stabilizing her newborn in distress, or helping her breastfeed, I will share what I know based on knowledge and experiences, to empower women through the self-care practice of prenatal yoga, with love
Early in 2026 I took an online 85 hour prenatal yoga course (check in the box) and was looking for how to get the 30 hours of prenatal yoga teaching to fulfill Yoga Alliance criteria for credentials. My search brought me to Ma Yoga and a curriculum that was so much more comprehensive and supportive than the online course I took previously and so I decided to take this course too.
The community, coaching, mentorship, and depth of learning has been enlightening and refreshing, and has expanded my growth in an area in which I thought I was already well versed! I am so grateful to have another method for supporting motherhood, in all its forms.
