Body Ready Method® Review: A Midwife's Honest Take on This Birth Prep Course

Aug 12, 2026

As a midwife and prenatal chiropractor, I have watched countless mamas prepare for birth in every way imaginable, so I do not recommend a program lightly. This Body Ready Method review is my honest, hands-on take on a course I trust enough to have become certified in myself, and one I recommend to the expectant parents in my care again and again.

Body Ready Method reviews from other birth professionals tend to say the same thing: this is different.

Most birth prep focuses on what happens during labor. BRM starts earlier, with the body itself, and that shift is what makes it so effective. Let's walk through what it is, how it works, when to start, and how it compares.

What Is the Body Ready Method?

The Body Ready Method (BRM) is an online birth prep program built around a simple idea: birth is a major physical event, and your body deserves the same intentional preparation you would give any other. The brand puts it perfectly, comparing birth to a marathon:

"For the best possible outcome you need to prepare your mind and body. Which is why BRM® takes a proactive, prehab approach to prime your body and mind for birth and recovery." – Body Ready Method

That prehab philosophy is the whole thing in a sentence. Rather than waiting for labor and hoping your body cooperates, BRM prepares your upper body, core, pelvis, pelvic floor and movement patterns, so your body walks into birth already trained. Running since 2017, it has supported more than 10,000 families and trained over 1,300 certified pros worldwide, with endorsements from organizations including DONA International.

Importantly, BRM is body prep, not a childbirth education class. It will not teach you the stages of labor, your pain relief options, or newborn care; that is what a good childbirth class is for. What it does, it does better than anything else I have found: it gets your body genuinely ready.

Start Body Ready Method ($10 Off with Code: dcoK1470)

How the Body Ready Method Works

BRM is fully online and self-paced, structured into three targeted programs for the exact stage you are in. Each comes with lifetime access, usable across multiple pregnancies at no extra cost.

Body Ready Prenatal ($197): The foundation. Exercise videos, smart training for the pelvic floor muscles, alignment guides, and core prep to keep you strong and pain-free through pregnancy, with Light, Moderate, and Plus levels for any fitness.
Body Ready Birth ($127): The birth prep intensive. Fourteen targeted videos teach you to open your pelvis on all three levels, practice effective birth positions, and work through hands-on techniques with your support person for delivery.
Body Ready Postpartum ($87): Intentional recovery from day one, with gentle movement you can begin right after birth, progressing toward core and pelvic floor healing, including guidance for cesarean birth recovery and diastasis recti.

You can buy any program alone or bundle all three for $297, the option most midwives and doulas (myself included) recommend, since it supports the whole journey. Workouts run about 25 minutes, with shorter 10 to 15 minute flows for busy days.

A taste of the method: a typical session pairs a breathing principle (expanding the ribs and releasing the pelvic floor on the inhale, exhaling as you move) with a mobility flow that takes each of the three levels of the pelvis through its range, the same inhale-to-open, exhale-to-work rhythm you will use in labor.

What I Love About It (and the One Caveat)

After using BRM in my own practice and guiding clients through it, here is my honest read.

Body Ready Method® – Our Rating

★★★★★ 5 / 5

The most thorough, physiology-honoring body prep I have found for pregnancy, birth, and recovery. A rare five stars.

It honors physiology. BRM works with the body's design, not against it. Its focus on the three levels of the pelvis, alignment, and functional movement reflects how birth actually unfolds. Opening the pelvis well gives the baby room to descend and rotate, the mechanical work that supports labor progress and cervical dilation. This is the same lens I bring as a chiropractor and midwife.

It is comprehensive. Most prenatal exercise is just modified general fitness. BRM is purpose-built for pregnancy, birth, and recovery, addressing the specific things mamas are told to "just deal with," like back pain, SPD, leaking, and core dysfunction, as things you can actually work on.

It meets every mama where she is. Water birth or hospital, midwife or OB, vaginal birth or cesarean, unmedicated or epidural, first baby or fifth, the tools apply, with difficulty levels and modifications for any fitness level.

It is empowering, not fear-based. As one certified pro put it, BRM changes birth from something that happens to you into something you actively participate in.

The one caveat: BRM asks something of you. It is a training program, and it works because you show up and do it, not a passive watch-and-absorb course. For the mamas I care for, that effort is precisely the point, and it pays off. Even with the caveat, this earns a full five stars.

When to Start, and How to Choose the Best Childbirth Classes to Pair With BRM

For the body work in BRM, earlier is better, but it is never too late; many mamas start in the third trimester and still see real benefits, and if you are very close to your due date you can begin with the postpartum program instead. Because BRM is self-paced with lifetime access, you can weave it around the companion childbirth classes that teach the knowledge side of birth.

Since BRM prepares your body but not your knowledge, you will want a childbirth class alongside it. When families ask me how to choose among the best childbirth classes, I point to a few criteria:

Evidence-based and current. Grounded in credible guidance, not one instructor's opinions.
Comprehensive scope. The best birth prep courses cover labor, comfort measures, medical options, postpartum recovery, breastfeeding, and newborn care, not just the pushing phase.
Format that fits your life. In-person classes offer hands-on practice and community; online birthing classes offer self-paced flexibility. Neither is universally better.
A philosophy you trust. Traditional methods like Lamaze and the Bradley Method are still valued; newer online courses tend to be more flexible. Choose the voice that matches your birth goals.

Pair a class like this with BRM's body work and, if you can, doula support, for genuinely complete preparation.

Body Ready Method vs Spinning Babies (and Other Methods)

This is the comparison I get asked about most. Both focus on the body and on helping birth go more smoothly, and both are wonderful. They are different tools, not competitors.

Spinning Babies, created by midwife Gail Tully, centers on balance and specific positions to help baby find an optimal position, especially around labor. It is often reached for with a specific positioning concern.

Body Ready Method is broader: a comprehensive body-preparation system spanning the whole childbearing year, including strength, mobility, pelvic function, alignment, and recovery. Where Spinning Babies is a targeted toolkit, BRM is the full training plan. They complement each other beautifully, and many birth pros use both.

Compared to method-based classes like Bradley or Lamaze, BRM sits in a different lane: those teach you how to labor, while BRM trains your body to be ready for it. Together they are far stronger than either alone.

Is the Body Ready Method Worth It?

For the right mama, without hesitation, yes. When families ask me about the best birth classes to prepare for labor, BRM is the body-prep program I point to first, for how seriously it takes your body's preparation and how well that translates into pregnancy comfort, birth efficiency, and smoother postpartum recovery.

BRM is a wonderful fit if you:

Want to be an active, prepared participant in your birth
Are willing to put in consistent, gentle work through pregnancy
Deal with pregnancy aches, pelvic pain, or core concerns
Want support from pregnancy through postpartum recovery
Value a physiology-honoring, empowering approach over a fear-based one

Pair it with a comprehensive childbirth education class for the knowledge side of birth, and gentle prenatal chiropractic care to keep your body balanced.

A gift for you: $10 off Body Ready Method

As a certified BRM® Pro, I can offer the families I work with $10 off the course, using code dcoK1470. Consider it my way of helping you start your birth prep on the right foot.

Get $10 Off Body Ready Method (Code: dcoK1470)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Body Ready Method?

The Body Ready Method (BRM) is an online, self-paced birth prep program that takes a prehab approach to preparing the body for pregnancy, birth, and recovery. It focuses on pelvic mobility, alignment, core function, and the pelvic floor muscles through targeted exercise videos. It comes in three programs, Prenatal, Birth, and Postpartum, and is body preparation rather than a childbirth education class.

Is the Body Ready Method worth it?

For mamas willing to put in consistent, gentle work through pregnancy, yes. BRM is one of the most comprehensive body-prep programs available, addressing pregnancy discomforts, preparing the pelvis and core for birth, and supporting postpartum recovery, with lifetime access across multiple pregnancies. It rewards effort, so it suits parents ready to actively participate.

What is the difference between Body Ready Method and Spinning Babies?

Spinning Babies, created by midwife Gail Tully, focuses on balance and positions to help baby find an optimal position, especially around labor. Body Ready Method is a broader training program preparing the whole body, strength, mobility, pelvic function, alignment, and recovery, across pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. BRM is the more complete body-prep system; Spinning Babies is a targeted positioning toolkit, and they complement each other well.

What month or week of pregnancy should you take birthing classes?

Most families do best starting childbirth classes in the second or third trimester, roughly months six to seven, or weeks 28 to 32, so the material is fresh going into labor. For the body work in BRM you can start any time; earlier gives more benefit, but the third trimester is still worthwhile.

What is the 5-5-5 rule for postpartum recovery?

The 5-5-5 rule is a gentle postpartum guideline: 5 days in bed, 5 days on the bed, and 5 days near the bed, about the first 15 days spent prioritizing rest over housework and visitors. A close cousin, the 3-3-3 rule, frames the fourth trimester as three days in bed, three weeks near home, and three months of gradual return to activity. BRM's postpartum program supports this kind of unhurried recovery.

What is the 3-1-1 rule for labor?

The 3-1-1 rule (and the similar 5-1-1 rule) tells you when to head to your birth location: contractions about 3 minutes apart, each lasting 1 minute, holding for 1 hour. Your provider may give you a specific version. It is a labor-timing tool, not a body-prep one, but it pairs naturally with the physical readiness BRM builds.

Do exercises help you dilate faster?

No exercise dilates the cervix directly, but movement and pelvic mobility support the process. When the pelvis opens well and the baby can descend and rotate into a good position, labor tends to progress more efficiently, which supports steady dilation. This is the mechanical readiness BRM trains for. Always follow your provider's guidance.

Does the Body Ready Method replace a childbirth education class?

No, and it is not meant to. BRM prepares your body for birth, while a childbirth education class teaches how labor works, comfort measures, your options, and newborn care. The two work beautifully together. For the most complete preparation, pair BRM's body work with a comprehensive birth prep course and, if you can, doula support.

The Bottom Line

Birth is one of the most demanding physical events your body will ever move through, and training for it the way you would for anything else that big simply makes sense. The Body Ready Method delivers with more depth and physiological wisdom than any other body-prep program I have found. It earns its five stars.

If you are ready to walk into your birth feeling strong, prepared, and capable, I could not recommend it more, and I would love to help you start with $10 off.