Julie Tupler, RN
Writer, WebMD, Inc.
Julie Tupler, RN, was asked to teach a prenatal class at a local health club in 1987. When the women in the class found out that she was a nurse, they started picking her brain about labor. In order to find out more about labor, she became a childbirth educator. She realized that traditional education takes place at the end of the pregnancy and only prepares the mind. As in training for any athletic event, however, it is important to prepare both the mind and the body, so Maternal Fitness was conceived in October 1990.
She started the business by training pregnant women on an individual basis and also by training other registered nurses to offer the program. To meet the growing demand, Maternal Fitness began offering group workshops throughout the New York area, both at the Maternal Fitness Center and at several major fitness centers, including New York Sports Club, Reebok, Pumping Iron, and the Peggy Levine Studio.
Tupler is a registered nurse, certified trainer, certified childbirth educator, author of Lose Your Mummy Tummy, Maternal Fitness: Preparing for a Healthy Pregnancy, an Easier Labor, and a Quick Recovery and Maternal Fitness: Preparing for the Marathon of Labor, and producer of the Maternal Fitness prenatal video series. She is the developer of proprietary Tupler Technique abdominal exercises, an advisory board member of Fitness Magazine and Women's Sports Foundation, and an Independent Health Council Member of the Association of Professional Team Physicians.