Answer: Most, but not all, women can have recovery of their diastasis without surgery!

Most women will experience a diastasis (separation of the tummy muscles) during pregnancy and afterwards too! Peta Titter RN and Dr Rhea Psereckis have some great info about exercising when you have a diastasis.

Join Peta Titter RN and Dr Rhea Psereckis as they discuss when it is safe to begin running with a stroller.

You’ve spent over nine months growing a human, there is no quick fix to getting your prenatal body back. Everyone’s body is different, Join Peta Titter RN and Dr Rhea Psereckis as they discuss safely returning to exercise after pregnancy.

The pelvic skeleton is actually made up of several bones. It is formed by the sacrum and the coccyx at the back and a pair of hip bones on the sides consisting of 3 sections each: the ilium, ischium and pubis. The hip bones and the sacrum at the back are joined together on each side by a fairly immobile joint known as the sacroiliac joint. At the front, your 2 hip bones join together at the pubic symphysis, which is made up of cartilage and ligaments.

During pregnancy these joints and ligaments (along with all the others in your body!) have more mobility due to associated hormonal changes. This is to enable the pelvis to be more flexible, so as to allow the baby to descend through the birth canal. After giving birth, your pelvis will take some time to regain its original strength and stability. Even if you have had a cesarean section your body will have experienced the same hormonal influences during pregnancy with the same changes to your pelvis, to accommodate the growing baby and uterus.

Diastasis of the rectus abdominus muscles (DRAM) is the separation of the ‘six-pack muscles’ (rectus abdominus). It is particularly prevalent during and after pregnancy and can also occur after abdominal surgery. Some men and postmenopausal women can also develop DRAM for reasons outside of pregnancy.

The deep gap running down the centre of a ‘toned’ stomach may or may not indicate a toned, healthy tummy, and instead may be various forms of diastasis. Intra-abdominal pressure applied to this midline muscle – called the linea alba – causes the widening space between the rectus muscles, or the abs, as the linea alba itself thins and widens. This also causes a protrusion of this muscle.

For those of you who have not heard of a DRAM (diastasis recti of the abdominal muscles), it’s a separation of the ‘six pack muscles’ (rectus abdominus). It has been reported the incidence of diastasis in pregnancy to be as high as 66-100% in the third trimester, with a diastasis persisting in up to 53% of women after delivery! (Benjamin, van de Water & Peiris 2014)

If you flip open a magazine ad you will see that many of the ‘fit mummies’ and even women who have never had a baby feature a prominent DRAM. This weakness puts them at risk of back pain and pelvic instability. How sad is it that the bodies our culture holds up for us to admire and aspire to are too often damaged and compromised!