Diastasis recti/ abdominal separation in pregnancy

[hilltop666]

Im 32wks and currently sitting with an ice pack on my belly, been having a burning feeling in my stomach under my bra and above my belly button for a few days now, so googled it today - and it sounds exactly like Diastasis recti/ abdominal separation.

When I go from lying down to sitting up using my somach muscles a massive ridge forms down the centre of my bump to my belly button its like the roof of a house or tent. So basically I think my stomach muscles have split right down the middle so there's a gap between them.

Will check with midwife when i'm back in 2wks to see what she thinks, but I am basically scareing the life out of myself with the thought of what it is going to look like after I give birth, thanks to google images it looks like you permantly stay looking still about 6 months pregnant after giving birth.

I understand my body will never be the same again after childbirth (was size 8/10 before) just dont want this massive bulge forever, there is a book by Julie Tupler thats supposed to work wonders but am still worried I will always have it, plus I am bridesmaid in a slinky dress about 2 months after labour.

Does anyone else have this now or did anyone have this before labour and it turned out to not be so bad after??

Marking my place here as I have tent thing when I sit up, too. Just assumed was normal and I wasn't too concerned until I read this...

Yeah i've been lauging at it for a few wks now until the burning pain started- hopefully someone will come along soon who know more queen

looks like we're on our own queen

No you're not!

I am an old hand at this....

I am in my 3rd pregnancy. Three years ago when 32w pg with DS2 my mw commented on my stomach and suggested the muscles have separated.

I was referred to physio within days of DS2 being born. I was one of the worst cases she had seen - I could get my entire hand between my stomach muscles! But within a couple of months of exercises I had closed the gap to 'only' 2 finger widths and was discharged. I did pilates for 2 years.

Ten week pg with this DC3 and already I felt that they had gone. So I have stopped the exercises and am prepared to do the same again. The only issues I've had so far (touch wood, 26w) are my bowels being pushed right forward and seeing and hearing my digestive system!!

yes, I have a big ridge when I lift my head lying down which is about the width of my palm.

Take care - esp of back pain. Luckily I haven't had is pg2 or this pg3, but considering my core is now only a horseshoe around my body and not fully supporting me I am surprised.

thanks captain good to know you did actually close the gap - think i have depressed myself at the thought of the mess my tummy will be in after, and coupled with the burning pain it has really got me down, had the makings of a 6 pack before i got pg.

Out of interest did you expand at a late stage - as i had a small very low bump up to about 28 wks so am thinking the rapid expansion is what has caused it??

Hmmm I'm not sure when it happened.

No one tells you about post baby stomach issues when you are pg. Newspapers are full of 'wow, she lost the baby weight' and 'look at her flat stomach' but noone shows you pictures of stomachs like mine :( :(

For info, this pg3 and pg2 my bump is very very high - thus I think my stomach muscles separated in a v shape - possibly during pg1 - with the gap more pronounced at the top. Am sure others can be different.

I have a c section over hang :( And oodles of stretchmarks. It ain't pretty naked, but I am relatively flat and look normal with clothes on.

Sorry. This isn't what you want to hear. I can only tell you about me!

When I sneeze etc I get sharp pains below my bump - this might also be because opf the v shape split. But, tBH, I am guessing.

I hope they'll refer me to physio again. It didn't take too much to get the muscles to go back. As long as my torso goes back flat and the gap is as it was last year then I will be 'happy'.

fwiw I had the tent thing from really early on, but paid no heed, so probably have been making it worse :( Will def mention to midwife next week - altho not much they can do till after the birth, as I am 38w... Thanks for the heads up, captain. hilltop, I had quite a big bump quite early on, so my stomach muscles were obviously shot from the off. Meh.

Aaargh, just wrote a post and it disappeared. I had this in my first pregnancy but didn't realise until a massage therapist pointed it out about 4 months post birth, following that I was careful with lifting and it pretty much disappeared on its own. Now I'm 39 weeks preg again and have got a large diastasis, I try to be careful about not sitting up using stomach muscles and to suck in my stomach (ha ha!) if I'm lifting anything.

I did freak out a bit earlier this pregnancy reading the horror stories about people needing surgery (with very mixed results in any case) and being left with awful muscles forever, but I think that's quite unusual. Apparently diastasis is very common anyway, up to 2/3 of women in second or subsequent pregnancies, it's the body's way of making space for the baby. So now I'm trying not to worry about it, at least this time I know what's going on and can ask for a referral to physio if necessary.

Interesting silly me! I do have the tent thingy, 15 months after DD2 it is still there, I never got it checked.
I wish I could take pilates or yoga again, but no courses fit my schedule .

I had pain after DD1 (tent thingy again) especially awful with gases (TMI), but the pain is almost non excitant now.

Should I consult someone? MW?

I've had this too. It's very common during pregnancy (though not a cause, it exacerbates underlying issues), and they typically wait up to 6 months afterwards to see if it will heal properly before considering intervention. There are exercises you can do now and afterwards to help keep them together as possible - this exercise is great and this explains the whole link between pregnancy and diastasis recti.

Hello,

I'm also an old hand at this, I had this with both previous pregnancies. The second time round it was so bad (like captainbarnacles), the mw couldn't find the edges!

I'm sorry, I don't know about flattening it within 2 months of childbirth for your bridesmaid duty, but longer term (6 months), it is certainly possible. I closed it to just a fingertip gap.

you know, most women actually have this, but it closes naturally in the postpartum period, you might find this happens largely for you too.

If not, the absolute best way to close it is a 'proper' pelvic tilt (using your lower ab muscles to move your hips rather than your hip muscles - try to get a physio referral) and also the really good one is the pilates suck and zip. Its basically a contraction of your pelvic floor and pelvic girdle muscle in one move, very ace.

I will be practicing all these myself in time as I'm pregnant with twins now so I expect to be in shreds by the end of it!

Good luck

My physio spotted I had this when I went about spd. 2 weeks ago I had ny 2nd set of twins and I've noticed the gap is already smaller than it was - it was 5 fingers wide and now about 3 without doing anything!!! I'm planning on doing Pilate etc as that's recommended and I'm seeing a chiro who might have some ideas too. I still have the tent look though when I sit up in bed but I also only had my 3rd c-sec 2 weeks ago so need my body to settle down before I moan about it too much lol

I had the tent look at 20 weeks, it was spotted by the sonographer when I turned over to get off the bed at my scan. She told me to roll over to get up to stop it getting worse. I asked the midwife about it after my scan and she said she had never heard of it.

I did Buggyfit and the instructor checked everyone for split tummies as she called them. Mine was about 2 fingers apart, 12 weeks after giving birth. Those with split tummies got different exercises so as not to aggravate it. Mine closed up by about 6mo post partum, but I still don't have a flat stomach as my skin has stretched as hasn't pinged back. I suspect I never will again.

I'd get a good pair of Spanx for that bridesmaid's dress.

Thanks for the replies ladies, actually started this thread over on childbirth too as i didnt get many replies here last night, and the interesting thing is most of the replies there were v positive about it over there saying that just a few wks after labour it wasn't too bad.

Went to docs today and he confirmed it- says its 2 fngers at the min but as iv'e 8 wks of expanding to do it could end up alot worse- he told me i can do mini sit-ups now to try and get a headstart, basically lying flat and lifting head and legs up only not a full crunch- but im a bit dubious as alot of websites ive looked at say crunches make it worse

If all else fails I can try and persuade my friend to put her wedding back a few months

I'm off for some after sun for my belly

If it's only 2 fingers now, then I reckon it'll go back of it's own accord/ with very gentle exercise on your part. Good stuff for you :)

Ah, thanks for the heads up hilltop, I think I might have it too.

At Buggyfit the split tummies did a pelvic raise. Lie in sit up position and just lift your bum up. I wouldn't do anything while still pregnant though or for a few weeks post partum.

You can do exercises during pregnancy which prevent or lessen the severity of diastasis recti.
Here are links of four, safe, abdominal exercises. The first two are for those who want to prevent diastasis or with a mid line of less than 2 finger-widths, the second two add on manual splinting of the mid line, for women who already have the condition.

Hi there, I've seen a couple of quesitons dotted around on this topic & since 'putting mums' tummies back together' is what I do, I hope I can point you in the right direction! I'm at mutusystem.com Sit ups and crunches will indeed make a diastasis worse. There's a video of how to test yourself on the mutusystem YouTube channel www.youtube.com/user/mutusystem There is a lot of confusion, but basically 1-2 fingers gap is usually not a problem, but you should still stay away from sit ups. You still need to keep the deeper abdominal muscles strong to support your back. Up to about 4 fingers is definitely regarded a diastasis, & needs corrective exercise. More than 4 fingers is regarded as quite a severe diastasis... & also needs corrective exercise! Sometimes a diastasis is associated with a hernia, & a hernia cannot be repaired with exercise - its needs surgery (when they usually sew up the diastasis for good measure!). Hope that helps!