Monday, March 24, 2014

Diastasis Recti

Diastasis Recti (DR) is a condition in which the muscles on the front of your stomach (rectus abdominus) separate due to pressure in the abdomen. This can happen to anyone, but pregnant women are one of the highest risk groups for developing this condition. The pressure from a growing uterus is the primary reason this occurs. Hormones secreted during pregnancy also play a part in this separation because they loosen connective tissue. This can happen at any point during pregnancy or after pregnancy when there is nothing to give support. Premature separation can occur as early as 20 weeks.

Other factors that can contribute to developing DR include:

  • Pregnancy with multiple babies
  • Pregnancies that are close together
  • Being over 35
  • Having a large baby
  • Poor posture
  • Daily activities
  • Incorrect exercising
Pushing can also make this condition much worse.

During pregnancy you want to avoid any exercises that put additional pressure on your abdominal muscles such as crunches, sit-ups and planks as these can also increase the gap between the muscles. 

Postpartum take adequate time to heal before diving into exercise.

This is just a basic overview. 

See this site for additional information. 


Do you have any experience with this? Share your thoughts below.

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3 comments:

  1. LauraMarch 24, 2014 at 6:17 PM

    Thanks for including this! I had never heard of it till after my fifth child and even then it was through a random Facebook conversation. My separation made me look perpetually 5 months pregnant and my baby was 20-months old when I discovered it. By doing the right exercises I have almost closed my previous 5-finger gap in only 3 months and I have gone down one whole jeans size (but haven't lost weight--that's next on my list).

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  2. Beth Learn, Fit2BMarch 24, 2014 at 7:26 PM

    This is great! It's so encouraging to see awareness of DR being raised since so few know anything about it. Just having it on your blog sets you a knock above most pregnancy blogs! Thank you!

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  3. JaimeMarch 24, 2014 at 9:51 PM

    I found your blog from the Fit2b Facebook group. I love that you are sharing information about diastasis! I have 9 babies, and healing my core is changing my life!

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