15 months of Recovery from Abdominal Separation

As my belly grew exponentially in the last few weeks of my pregnancy, I experienced a 3 finger distance Diastasis Recti.

What is Diastasis Recti?

Diastasis Recti (DR) is a condition that occurs when the rectus abdominis muscle separates into an abnormally wide distance. This distance is normally measured by how-many-finger(s) apart. DR is also a common condition that happens in 60% of postpartum mothers (particularly beyond 6-8 weeks). 

How do I know if I have Diastasis Recti Postpartum?

Common symptoms of DR: 

  • A bulge or indentation that is visible in the midline of the abdomen. 
  • Weakness and difficulty engaging the core muscle group 
  • Lower back pain 
  • Pelvic floor dysfunction, such as incontinence. 

How to self-check if you have DR?

Check out our video by clicking here.

Simple self-test: 

  1. Lie down on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground. 
  2. Put one of your hands on your belly ready to move and assess three different points (below ribs, above navel, below navel) and another hand behind your head. 
  3. Lift your upper body up and feel if there is any gap in between the rectus abdominis muscles. Measure by number of fingers fit between the separated muscles. 

How long does it take to improve your Diastasis Recti?

Personally for me, it took 15 months in total.

I started with breathing exercises – changing my abdominal breathing back to diaphragmatic breathing. How? Read how to do so by clicking here.

Then I worked on my TA Activation (Transverse Abdominis Muscle Activation) a lot. I did this for about 3-4 months before I gradually returned to my usual weekly pilates. 

Initially, in the first 6 months of pilates, I had to avoid sit ups, crunches, leg lifts and planks. 

At 9 months postpartum, my DR distance dropped from 3 fingers to 1.5 fingers distance apart. This was when I thought I was ready to do more, so I started following a full pilates class without doing any modified movements. Two weeks later, I found that my DR worsened…

On top of this, I started getting more lower back aches. This was partially due to my increased workload and having to care for a baby at home. I also learned that due to the fact that I was still breastfeeding, my joints remained lax. This also potentially contributed to my slow recovery. 

I gradually slowed down my breastfeeding at 13 months and decided to focus on improving my core strength and endurance. I officially stopped breastfeeding at 14 months and went into a full routine of 3x/week yoga and pilates classes. 

This is the result: 

The intention of writing this post is to share my personal experience and understanding that every individual is different. Guidelines are there as a guide, but naturally this can vary quite a lot in actual situations. 

To my dearest postpartum moms:

It doesn’t matter how long it takes to get there, as long as you are working towards it. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise or judge your body figure. ❤️