After you have a baby, you may be shocked to see what your belly looks like; almost like a bowl of jelly in some cases!
Post natal exercise is essential in helping you get your body back, but you need to be careful of the things you do, and when you do them.
Women who suffer from a condition called rectus diastasis need to consult their doctor or health care professional before embarking on abdominal exercises. When the rectus abdominus (six pack muscle) becomes separated at the fascia, it leaves your belly looking a little strange. You may have a shelf, and you can probably see some bulging or other movement in your abs when you try to do a crunch.
Following childbirth, women who have a diastasis can actually stop the healing process by doing crunches, so it’s important to know what kinds of ab exercises are safe and effective for you at this time.
Not sure if you have a diastasis or not? Check out an article on this physio website: http://synergyphysio.ca/resources_diastasis
Take home message: it’s possible to get some closure back in your gap, but you must be careful what you do, that you don’t do it too soon, and that you learn how to re-engage your core correctly.
Seeing a physio that specializes in this condition soon after the birth can be very helpful.
[...] I had an umbilical hernia. Pregnancy caused me to have a splitting of the rectus abdominus fascia (rectus diastasis) and that allowed omentum to seep through my abdominal wall and press through the [...]