How to Heal Abdominal Separation After a Baby

Abdominal separation after a baby, or diastasis recti as it’s often called, takes time to heal after a baby. There are exercises you can do to correct abdominal separation caused by diastasis recti. 

Fixing your ab separation won’t happen instantly or by some magic exercise, but, the right exercises will help you in the healing process- all while strengthening your core. If you want to learn more exercises, you can get access to L.E.A.N. Mamas which is my postpartum e-book and info bundle to help you lose weight while breastfeeding without risking your milk supply. Also included is an Exercise Guide which includes more information on diastasis recti and how to heal it. 

What is Diastasis Recti?

Diastasis recti is the separation of the outer part of your abdominal muscles. Diastasis means separation, and recti refers to your rectus abdominis. This abdominal separation can often occur after a baby. 

What Causes Diastasis Recti?

The muscles are caused to separate by the intra-abdominal force that’s placed on the belly button during pregnancy. The belly button is a spot that’s weak in the connective tissue, so the continuous stretching and pressure cause the separation.

Diastasis Recti Symptoms

The main symptoms include a bulge when you get up from a supine position and a protruding belly. Other symptoms include the following :

• Bloating
• Lower Back Pain
• Constipation
• Poor posture 

Does Diastasis Recti Cause Any Complications?

• Pelvic pain
• Back pain
• Jeopardized mobility and stability in the trunk
• Damage to posture
• Pelvic floor dysfunction 
• In extreme cases, hernia

Who Can Get Diastasis Recti?

Diastasis Recti is usually caused by pregnancy, although women, men, and children can get Diastasis Recti as well. Aside from pregnancy, the other causes of Diastasis Recti include the following :

• Exercises such as planks and crunches.
• Back-bends
• Abdominal surgery 
• Extreme weight gain
• Certain sports and activities, such as golf, swimming, and tennis

Do Postpartum Exercises for Diastasis Recti Help?

The right exercises can help repair your Diastasis Recti by restoring deep abdominal control and promoting muscle recovery after your pregnancy and birth. However, if you do the wrong exercises, it can worsen the problem. When you perform these exercises, it is of upmost importance to ensure that the deep abdominal activation technique you are using is the correct one. The exercises that you do should challenge the deep abdominal muscles progressively to further promote the control of your core.

Abdominal Exercises for Diastasis Recti

Initial 12 Weeks After Childbirth

This is the most important postpartum period for recovery, as it’s the time that your body needs to start healing itself. The body changes you’ll begin to experience will be new and possibly uncomfortable. During this time you need to continue with your Kegels exercises to reduce and prevent unwanted leakage. During these 12 weeks your focus is on recovery, and easing yourself into exercises to lose unwanted baby weight.

How To Self-Check for Diastasis Recti 

• Lie down on the floor and bend your knees, keeping your feet flat. For comfort, place a pillow beneath your head.
• Just above your belly button, place three of your fingers facing towards your feet, downwards. 
• Lift your head off the ground gently, feeling the ridges of your rectus abdominals. The aim here is to feel how far apart, in finger distance, the ridges are from each other.
• The deeper your fingers go down into your belly, the weaker your Linea Alba is. 

Recovery is Unique to Each Individual

If you self-check for Diastasis Recti and figure out that you are suffering from it, consult with a medical physician. After getting approval from your doctor, you can then begin with your exercise program.

Diastasis Recti Exercises to Help Abdominal Separation After a Baby

Exercise One – Pelvic Tilts with Abdominal Activation 

• Start the exercise by lying on your back and bending your knees
• Engage your deep core abdominal muscles and draw your belly button inwards as your lower belly draws back
• Add pelvic tilts by engaging your deep abdominals as well as pelvic floor as you begin to flatten your back

Exercise Two – Single or Double Knee Drops

• Start the exercise by lying on your back, bending your knees and keeping your feet flat
• You can either do the exercise with just the one knee to the one side, or both knees to the one side. If you do the exercise with just the one knee, keep the other knee still
• Engage your abdominals to lift your knee, or knees, then return back to the starting point

Exercise Three – Leg Slides

• Start the exercise by lying on your back, bending your knees and keeping your feet flat
• Straighten one of your legs, keeping the heel on the ground
• Then slide the straightened leg back in while keeping your deep abdominals and pelvic floor activated
• Repeat on the other side
• For an advanced version of this exercise, lift your foot off the ground without letting the heel touch the floor

Exercise Four – Single Leg Lifts

• Start the exercise by lying on your back, bending your knees, and keeping your feet flat
• Lift one of your legs up slowly, so that the knee is directly above your hip
• Create a 90-degree angle at your knee by ensuring your heel is in line with the knee
• As you lower your leg back down, keep the angle the same
• Repeat the exercise on the other side
• To advance the exercise, add leg extensions 

Postpartum Belly Binders for Abdominal Separation After a Baby

A belly binder, like this Breathable Abdominal Support or this 4 in 1 version that you can use during pregnancy and for postpartum relief. Either of these are used to help repair abdominal separation as it holds the ligaments, tissues, and bones in place to stabilize the pelvis. This helps a woman to begin with exercises earlier on in the stage of recovery. The upside of this is that activity can begin immediately to help strengthen the musculature and pelvis.

However, it’s best to speak with your midwife or physical therapist to hear if it would be suitable for your case. In some cases, wearing a belly binder results in a woman having over-reliance on the brace and she’s unable to retrain her abdominal muscles. So, it all depends on each individual’s case.

If you do end up wearing the belly binder, wear it for about 3 to 4 weeks and each day reduce the number of hours you wear the belly binder for.

What Abdominal Separation Means for Future Pregnancies

After healing from Diastasis Recti, in most cases, you definitely can get pregnant again and have a healthy pregnancy without getting Diastasis Recti again. To avoid complications in the future, ensure that you take the right steps to fix any separation. Also, continue the exercises to help strengthen and repair your core. You can find more exercises for pregnancy in my post on 5 Pregnancy Exercises for an Easy Labor and Delivery. 

Once you get a positive pregnancy test, begin with your pelvic floor exercises, limit heavy lifting, and practice good posture. In rare cases, if you’ve had severe Diastasis Recti, it will be difficult for you to have a vaginal delivery in the future- as it’s harder for the core muscles to get engaged to be able to push. If you think this might be an issue, bring it to your midwife’s or doctor’s attention. 

Diastasis recti takes time to heal after having your baby. Fixing your ab separation won’t happen instantly or by some magic exercise, but, the right exercises will help you in the healing process- all while strengthening your core. If you want to learn more exercises, you can get access to L.E.A.N. Mamas which is my postpartum e-book and info bundle to help you lose weight while breastfeeding without risking your milk supply. Also included is an Exercise Guide which includes more information on diastasis recti and how to heal it. 

Abdominal separation after a baby, or diastasis recti as it’s often called, takes time to heal after a baby. There are exercises you can do to correct abdominal separation caused by diastasis recti.