Diastasis Recti in Pregnancy
Up to 100% of women will develop a diastasis rectus abdominis (DRA) during pregnancy, which seems like an odd statistic but should make you feel less alone! This is regardless of weight gain, baby size, or abdominal circumference. But women everywhere are REALLY concerned about diastasis. Why? Everyone wants beautiful abs and a flat stomach after birth, and diastasis can definitely affect that (though so can many other things).
Diastasis recti is a stretching of the abdominal wall at the linea alba-the fascia that sits between the 6-pack rectus abdominis. It makes complete sense that 100% of women experience a diastasis during pregnancy because the muscles can only stretch so far before the connective tissue (fascia) also has to contribute. When people talk about their ‘gap’ they are referring to this area of tissue that is weakened. With challenging core workouts, a DRA that is not healthy will either bulge or draw in. This means that it is not working well enough to support your core during these tasks, and you are either compensating by breath holding or sucking in, or not compensating and getting a bulge with effort.
What is currently unknown is why some women’s diastasis resolves spontaneously and others do not. This particular study showed that there was a significant reduction in the number of women affected by diastasis at 6 and 12 months postpartum after they were originally diagnosed at 6 weeks postpartum. But there was no difference between those who did specific core exercises vs. those who did not. This means that a number of women will spontaneously resolve their diastasis within 1 year postpartum, and others will not-even with specific exercises. Other studies do support specific core exercises for reducing the width of a DRA, and show good results.
While we may not know which moms will be most affected by DRA, there are some actionable things you can do during pregnancy and the postpartum period to potentially reduce the gap with minimal effort.
During pregnancy perform belly care to stretch the fascia from the back to the front, so not all of the demand is on the linea alba! See the video above for instruction.
Starting early postpartum (Day 1 or 2), initiate diaphragmatic breathing. This will not only help your ribs return to their normal, pre-pregnancy location as well as start to normalize your core now that baby is no longer occupying space there. This can help to gently use the abdominals so they ‘remember’ their function and encourage them to return to their non-pregnant resting positions. To get really good coaching on breathing and core work postpartum check out the Return to Running and Jumping Postpartum program!
Use some of the exercise ideas below to strengthen the core during pregnancy, and avoid anything that might overstress the abdominals. This is different for everyone, but in general you want to avoid anything that makes the middle of your abdomen bulge. See video below for ideas!