Two years after having a massive baby and my tummy still looks huge - any advice?

[MonChoufleur123]

Had my son 2 years ago and he was just under 10lbs. Took a long time to recover from a 2nd nearly 3rd degree tear and a grade 2 prolapse but that has improved now to more like a grade 1. The problem is my stomach muscles still seem so stretched and weak! They look OK in the morning but by the evening I look 6 months pregnant again. I swim twice a week and do pilates once a week and have lost all the baby weight everywhere else but my tummy looks so out of proportion! Would love to hear any stories / tips of getting fit again after a big baby. Thank you x

Maybe a one off pilates 1.1 class. I'd say reformer pilates is the best really if you want to sort your core.

Is it possible that you still have fat on your tummy? Your body composition changes during pregnancy, you have more fat and less muscle. So you might weigh the same but have more fat than before. In which case you’d need to do exercise to build muscle, not just swimming and pilates.

Diastatis recti I'll bet.

Have you got seperated abdominals? 100% I would see a women specialist physio before doing anything.

This. See the GP and/or a womens physio.

My GP has confirmed I have diastasis recti, but then just shrugged and said it’s a consequence of pregnancy, not much I can do, I recommend looking on YouTube for some exercises. Which isn’t very helpful. Why is the NHS not helping women with these problems?

Thank you everyone who replied. It is really getting me down. I saw a postnatal physio on the NHS about 6 months after having my son who concentrated on my pelvic floor and that has really improved, but I don't think she ever looked at my tummy. There's definitely still baby fat on there, it's gone everywhere else. It also just looks worse and worse as the day goes on especially when I'm on my feet all day like the muscles get too tired to hold themselves up. Thanks for the suggestion of seeing a women's physio privately I can look at how much that would cost. If anyone else has got their stomach muscles strong again after a big baby or having drastic recti would love to hear what you did.

Diastasis! Although it does feel pretty drastic sometimes! 🙄

@Speermint is there anything specific you would suggest? Thanks

I have this exact issue op and am pregnant again - there is surgery you can get and I plan to after this baby. Physio sadly didn’t fix mine. I think it depends on the severity!

You have to be really careful with movement. You can feel yourself the gaps between your stomach muscles if you aren't squeamish but please do see a specialist women's health physio.

I had a massive diastasis and did manage to get my muscles strong again focusing on core abs exercises. They got strong to the point I could hold them together if I flexed, but if I let go they would separate. So although it's possible to recover strength, doesn't mean they'll necessarily stay together when you stand if the tissue holding them has tear during pregnancy (mine had). 6 years down the line I gave up and had a tummy tuck. I'm just 1 month into recovering and it was my best decision ever!

I had the tummy muscles split thing

The exercise I did:
Lay on your back
Think I may have put my hand on my stomach
Lift your head slowly off the floor and then your shoulders
Hold for 5
Slowly lay head down flat.
Repeat 20 times.
Was told about this after first baby.
No one said anything after second baby so I did it anyway / quiet impressed the medical person when I mentioned after the fact

@usernamenumber166373838 yes this is exactly what mine are like! If I tense the muscles I can see what it should look like but as soon as I relax it all drops down again. So glad your operation went well, It is fairly major surgery isn't it? Best of luck with the recovery.

@TammyJones This sounds similar to something we do in pilates - I will try to do it at home too, thank you 😊

@Yummymummy2020 do you mean a tummy tuck? I'm guessing it's not available on the NHS?! 😂

There are lots of YouTube videos that can help with this. Or any kind of post natal Pilates would be good.

You can’t just go hell for leather on your abs though. You need targeted exercises that will help knit the muscles back together.

Yes, the surgery is major, and the first 2 weeks of recovery are shit. But if you can eat and look past it, it's 100% worth it!

I meant if you can bear and look past it, it's 100% worth it!

Stupid auto correct