Worried about separated tummy muscles

[Mumbybumby]

Am 34 weeks pg.
Someone told me today that if your tummy goes into a 'point' when you sit up, your tummy muscles are separated and this not only means you will never get a flat tummy again but that there are health implications for your back etc.
Am a bit worried and have looked on the Internet for advice but the 'tests' they tell you to do, where you can apparently feel a gap don't work as all I can feel is a baby!
Can someone tell me more about this and hopefully reassure me?
Thanks :)

Ah thanks too tigersteapot, I didn't realise the gap can close on it's own too.
You ladies are very knowledgeable, I thank you for putting my mind at rest!

Iam too late? I had this with my third pg. Or more noticably, my mw said, 'Ooh your stomach muscles have really gone'

I was like 'oh thats nice isn't it.'

She told me to get a support belt/band which I did from ebay and liked it.

I went back to my Body Attack class when ds was 6 weeks old, asked the instructor to check my guts out, she said I was fine and I was. Back to skinny old tummy. Like it never happened.

But my ribs. I think that ds has made my ribs more flexible, so sometimes they overlap which is painful but self corrects as soon as I am straight again.

How kind of your midwife to be so blunt, goodasgold! You are lucky to have been back to normal after 6 weeks - my cousin is getting married two months after DC2 is due so here's hoping I'm as lucky as you!
Is it worth getting the support band, even at this late stage?

I had an 8-finger separation after my second baby was born 15 months ago. I was referred to physio but it had limited effects and tbh the staff were pretty clueless. They discharged me after 3 months having failed to recognise that I had a massive hernia that no amount of exercise was going to cure.
Were it not for my fantastic and supportive GP I would probably still be suffering with it now; however when she found out what was going on she immediately referred me for surgery and I had a hernia repair with abdominoplasty in October last year. It was major surgery and I now have an 8" vertical scar but my god it was worth it! It doesn't look pretty and I'm waiting for a plastic surgery referral to tidy up the scar but I'm so thankful to have a "normal" tummy again instead of the freakish bulge. Most importantly I now have properly functioning tummy muscles and can lift and play with my children.

My point is that although clearly exercise works for many people, you need to trust your instincts and if you are not progressing or feel that something is wrong, don't be fobbed off - get advice, talk to your GP, explore other options.

Best of luck :)

Thanks lightlyscrambled, sorry you had such a rubbish experience and hope it gets completely sorted for you. I suppose I will have to make sure I listen to my body and get to know it as best as I can. I'm not afraid to bug my GP if necessary and luckily they are pretty good but with any luck exercise will do the trick.

Thanks. The support band was really good during the day, but uncomfortable at night. I only got a cheap one from ebay. But I did like to strap myself up. You only live once.

I am just remembering how horrid that pg was for me! I stopped bf dd2 when I was 5ms pg, had debilitating aneamia, my guts were coming apart, I was tired and faint. I couldn't even make my bed without getting out of breath and having to have a sit down.

All back to normal now and so worth it for ds.

Sorry getting confused, the linea nigra (not even right name!) is the dark line from belly button to pubic bone, apparently it's hormiones that cause it.

I thought it was along the muscle separation line, in fact I think I was told that last time around, but it's not.

Hormones, not hormiones. Hormione is a Harry Potter character isn't she?

discobeaver the linea negra is the dark line from belly button to pubic bone that can appear during pregnancy. The linea alba is the connective band between the rectus abdominus muscles - everyone has one of these! The two are not connected. You don't get linea negra if your muscles 'split' i.e. your linea alba stretches or tears.

Hope this helps.

Hi dont know if you will get this message or not. I have a 4 finger gap my baby is 14weeks old. I have been trying to close my gap with diastatis recti exercises that i found on the internet, but dont see any improvement. I have looked up the tupler technique but can not aford to pay for it im from england. Could you help and explain a couple of the tupler exercises ?? to see if the exercises im doing are worth carrying on with as its really getting me down. Imwearing baggy jumpers now but come summer time if I cant get rid of my pouch belly im not going to beable to hide it. Thankyou if you can help

A girl I work with had this very badly after her first baby and was told it was unlikely to improve. She had another baby (who is now 4!) and still made no improvement, she consistently looked 6 months pregnant. She had surgery in the end to sew them back together (and a tummy tuck!) and she looks back to his she was before now.

Worth investigating if the exercises don't work long term