What is Diastasis Recti and what can I do about it?

Help! I have Diastasis Recti and I don’t know what to do!

First…

Take a breath, exhale, and relax! 

Diastasis Recti is a natural occurrence during pregnancy.

Diastasis occurs in 100% of full term pregnancies. (Fernandes et al., 2015) 60% of women have a diastasis at 6 weeks postpartum, and 12% at 12 months. (Sperstad et al., 2016).

The body is designed to open up and make room for the baby. After we give birth, through breathing, alignment work, and movement, we can help heal our Diastasis and feel amazing again. First, we must thank our bodies for what it produced.  You carried a child and gave birth! You created life. How cool is that?  Take a moment and recognize what a badass you are. Whether you are a first-time mom or this is your fourth, congratulations! 

 Ok, so what is Diastasis Recti? It is a common condition that occurs when the rectus abdominis muscles (six-pack ab muscles) separate during pregnancy from being stretched. This separation can make our belly’s bulge for months or years postpartum making us look pregnant still.

The good news it, it can be repaired with special exercises that help to close the separation.

Symptoms of DR include:

A pooch in the low belly

Low back pain or discomfort

Constipation

Leaking

Pain during Sex

Pelvic or Hip Pain

Jelly-like feeling around belly button

How do I test myself for diastasis recti?

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
2. Place two fingers above your belly button and lift your head and shoulders slightly off the floor.
3. Move the two fingers to your belly button and lift again.
4. Move your two fingers below your belly button and try one more time.

You are not trying to contract the muscles, just trying to get a slight engagement to feel the gap between the two halves of your rectus abs.

If you have a gap, see how many fingers you can get between the two halves as well as what that space feels like.  Is it a deep gap or is the space between springy like a trampoline?

If you have any concerns, please discuss with your healthcare provider.

I have separation! What do I do now? Here are some tips:

1. Learn to breath and brace:  Pregnant? Think…. Exhale,  and hug the baby with your stomach muscles (you will see your bump lift), Inhale, drop the baby. Postnatal? Tighten your abs like your toddler is about to jump on our belly or punch you! Draw in and up….. Not out and down. Ask me about this on the Facebook group if you want a demonstration.
2. Learn how to fire those deep abs again! Through different core exercises, we will start to re-fire your core. To get stronger, we will increase the intensity of the exercise!
3. Manage pressure regulation. This is making sure that when we lift something heavy, we can hold our abs in and not let them pooch out. When we lose our core brace, our back can arch putting more pressure on our low back causing discomfort or pain.  We can also put pressure down into our pelvic floor causing us to feel like we need to pee when we walk, run, or exercise.
4. Applying bracing when doing everyday activities like closing a dishwasher, picking up a car seat or your child, and lifting heavy groceries. Check out the bracing video in the Move Well section for proper technique.
5. Do the Diastasis Recti series in the Mama Care Complete Membership.

Learning how to breathe and brace is awesome in the healing of our bodies. In the Move Well section, I have a video that covers how to do this properly.  No matter what your exercise of choice is, if you are putting tons of pressure out and down, you may increase your DR.  Does this mean when you see coning or doming during a workout you should always stop? No!  It’s information!!  Listen to your body.  When we push ourselves and see things like doming, coning, or bread-loafing in our midline, we can pause and make sure our form, breath and brace is activated.  If it continues, take a step back and choose a version that allows you to keep your form. We want the pelvic floor and deep abs to work together again.  They will release and contract. Yes ladies……let those abs go!!  Holding them in all day is like holding a kegal!  It may compound the issue you are hoping to resolve.  We want our bodies to relax as much as they can contract and over time, our resting tone (the way our abs look when we let them hang out) will increase!

When we are pregnant, our ribs flare out, our organs move, our abs get distended and we naturally have a lot of pressure going out and down. When you are pregnant and breathe and brace, think of hugging the baby on the exhale and releasing the baby on the inhale. You will see your baby lift when you exhale and drop when you inhale! This is a great way to physically see your brace!

Using nutrition to help with bloating, mindful exercises to keep us less stressed and doing proper exercises that teach us about our alignment, push us to a new level, and strengthen us fully. Healing is a process and Mama Care Complete will give you the tools to help you get there.

Breathe, Brace and Move ladies, but most of all, enjoy your baby!!

Yours in health,

Heather