Diastasis recti is a commonly misunderstood concept. We all have a separation between our rectus abdominis (six-pack abs) muscles- it is a fascial connection between your “6 pack muscles” three on each side. It's a line that goes from the middle of your breastbone to the top of your pubic bone.

During pregnancy, our bodies go through many changes. Hormonal, chemical, physical, and more… One of these changes is that the fascial connection between the 6-pack muscles gets stretched out to make room for growing belly and baby. Sometimes this is stretched so much that it remains after delivery it continues to stay stretched out and create weak abdominals.

WHAT IS NORMAL?

Two to three centimeters is considered a normal separation (if you are NOT currently pregnant). If it’s bigger than that, you should go to your physical therapist so they can help you get back to your strong and healthy self!

Why should I care about it?

Many woman are displeased with how DrA looks, but more importantly, diastasis recti separation can cause back pain long term. For mothers, it is very important to be able to lift their babies with ease and without pain. Just think about how many times per day moms need to lift their babies - in and out from the crib, changing table, car seat, stroller, at the playground… We want you to be strong and stable and be able to get back to doing all of the activities that you love- injury free!

What are some risk factors for diastasis recti?

During pregnancy, there are many things that we can’t control. Sometimes these things can increase our risk for diastasis recti:

Having a larger baby
Having multiple babies (think twins!)
Having a belly that’s showing more straightforward

How to prevent diastasis recti?

There are things that you can control to minimize the risk of having diastasis recti.

1. Learn the log roll technique for getting out of the bed.

What’s that? Instead of doing a sit-up when getting out of the bed, use this technique to roll out of the bed. First, roll on your side.

Then push up onto your side and at the same swinging your legs off of the side of the bed. This uses a pendulum-like force to get you out of bed and you use your arms to prop you up as opposed to doing a sit-up. Crunches or sit-ups are typically something that's going to increase your risk of separating further during pregnancy.

2. Manage abdominal pressure when lifting.

Avoid holding your breath during lifting and use your leg muscles. If you contract your deep abdominal core and exhale at the same time as lifting that can make it safer to lift and decrease the chance of diastasis recti from getting separated and big.

3. Stay strong in your deep abdominal core (Transverse Abdominis).

This is a muscle that wraps around the core. Think about it like an inner corset or inner back brace, or even an inner tree ring. When you tighten this muscle, it kind of holds everything in. If you're pregnant, it feels like you're hugging the baby with your stomach all the way around in a 360 direction. When we keep the transversus abdominis strong throughout pregnancy it helps us decrease the strain on that middle fascial tissue and help to decrease the chance of separation.

How to Prevent Diastasis Recti (Ab Separation).