Diastasis Recti: What is it and How to Heal it

It’s a struggle that all us mamas deal with.

Even though we understand that it comes from the greatest joy in life, it’s hard to come to terms with.

Somehow, even when it's not the case it seems to find a way to eek in to your life and cause stress and anxiety.

You can probably count multiple times when you were mind your business in the store and happened to see someone looking your way. 

• “Oh my god, are they staring at me?”

• “They’re thinking about my belly”

I know I’ve thought these exact things in the past.

The truth of the matter is that they probably weren’t even looking at you in the first place, you just projected that action on them because of your postpartum belly. 

What is Diastasis Recti?

Diastasis Recti is a common occurrence, it’s believed that 60% of women experience diastasis recti after pregnancy. But what exactly is it?

We can translate the word Diastasis as separation; while, the word recti refers to our abs muscles or, in scientific terms, rectus abdominis.

Put simply, Diastasis Recti is a port-partum condition in which our bellies stick out. The reason behind this bulging belly is a widened space between the left and right belly muscles.

Unsurprisingly, with an increase in the number of children, chances and intensity of Diastasis increases.

Reason behind Diastasis Recti

Why does it happen? Honestly, it’s rather simple: It happens because of the pressure our belly sustains during pregnancy. The fetus inside your belly puts its weight on the front abdominal muscles (like it does on every other muscle on its side). Sometimes, this pressure is so intense that these front muscles lose their shape.

Other factors that further contribute to loosened muscles include one or more cesarean sections, minimal gap between children births, and multiple pregnancies.

Although this condition can create huge discomfort for the mother, it can be treated with proper exercises.

Healings

Before considering treating your Diastasis Recti, focus on preventing it from getting worse. Below are a few quick tips you can follow to try and prevent it from getting worse. 

• Move gently: Quick movements and weight lifting will put further pressure on your belly muscles. Don’t take it lightly, even standing up abruptly or carrying your baby can complicate the matter.

• Exercise carefully: Most of the exercises, like pushups, sit-ups, and planks, further complicate this condition. You also need to avoid swimming before your Diastasis Recti is treated.

• Focus on your posture: An upright posture will help you maintaining, or improving, this separation. Also, try to support your lower back with a pillow when sitting or lying to avoid related complaints of back pain.

There are various methods for healing this separation depending on your doctor and severity your experiencing. You can opt for physical therapy. Or if your condition is far worse than most women, you can have surgery. But this should be a last resort option.

Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy

Only a few doctors are truly knowledgeable in the treatment of Diastasis Recti. It is better to get a referral to pelvic floor physiotherapy to heal your abdominal separation with mild exercises.

Simple pelvic floor exercise requires you to contract pelvic floor muscles in a position which you use for holding urine.

But this is just one out of many exercises which not only help in healing this separation but also tightens pelvic floor after pregnancy.

Breathing Exercise

You may think that this doesn’t relate to the topic at hand. But it is the best starting point to get your belly back in shape after abdominal separation.

• Do this exercise while lying down on your back.

• Place your hands on the lower side of your ribcage.

• While inhaling, feel the diaphragm movement as it expands the lower ribcage.

• While exhaling, notice the opposite movement.

This mindfulness will help you with deeper breathing which is a healthy habit we all should incorporate in our daily life.

Take Away

Diastasis Recti can be a serious blow to a woman’s self-esteem. But it’s not just self-esteem we need to consider when studying the impacts of this separation.

Among other effects of this condition, physical pain, constipation, and urinary dysfunctions are common.

The good news is that we can all stop stressing out about this, with the right motivation and dedication we can all get back to our pre-pregnancy glory.