Galveston County Daily News, July 29, 2007 GALVESTON - Jennifer Salyer had been in the hospital for 10 hours when her obstetrician told her to brace herself for a lengthy childbirth. First-time moms typically spend more time in labor than women giving birth to their second or third child. Instructing Salyer to save her energy between contractions, the obstetrician left to attend to other duties. Within minutes, nurses were "paging him like mad" and begging Salyer to stop pushing, Salyer said. Her 6-pound, 15-ounce baby girl arrived in 15 minutes. Anecdotes like Salyer's of easy births and quick recoveries have been drawing more women to yoga and Pilates - gentle exercises that are getting the blessings of obstetricians. Mary Claire Haver, an obstetrician at the University of Texas Medical Branch, attributes growing interest in yoga and Pilates to a health conscious generation of pregnant women. Today's pregnant women are older and tend to be more worried about their health. Many of Haver's athletic patients aren't ready to give up their daily exercise routines. Steering them away from strenuous aerobic exercises like running, which could steal blood away from the baby, Haver encourages them instead to stretch, breathe and bend - techniques they can learn through swimming, yoga and Pilates. Though she's seen no research, Haver said she's noticed a marked difference between her patients who learn to stretch and breathe and those who don't.