Hi Moms,
Anyone have good recommendations for correcting a diastasis recti (separation of the abdominal muscles due to pregnancy)? My midwife referred me to physical therapy but I'm trying to figure out if it's worth the $$$ (insurance will pay some). I started doing yoga again, but am now learning that this could be making it worse. What have you tried to correct this and what has worked (or not)? Thanks!
I had the same concern after my 3rd baby was born. I used the exercises in this article from www.babyfit.com and saw improvement after a couple months of routinely doing these exercises. Check out the article at: http://babyfit.sparkpeople.com/articles.asp?id=805.
Hope that helps! Nurse Midwife Mom of 3
you've gotten some great responses so far. i may use them myself! having gone to PT, they gave me some exercises to do for this at home. you can certainly do them with a therapist if that's how you keep yourself accountable but they are things you can do at home. the hardest part for me was realizing that i was using the wrong muscles to complete the exercises, so in that case, a few visits with the therapist helped me immensely. i guess it all depends how in tune you are with your body.
here are exercises very similar to what they gave me: http://www.best-abs-exercises.com/stomach-vacuum.html
i haven't healed mine completely but it has closed some because, as with any exercise, you have to actually do it :P
http://mamabirth.blogspot.com/2012/04/guest-post-healing-...
THis is a link to a blog post from earlier this week that I think you will find helpful.
I have the same thing from my thrid pregnancy last summer, at 3 months postpartum I could fit my entire fist in the gap...I am down to 3 fingers now (8 months pp). I have been doing yoga also and talked with my teacher about it...she is mindful of that "injury" and reminds me to scoop my belly, engage the pelvic floor, and imagine a belt tightening around my abs...all of that helps me do the poses so that I don't make things worse, I also don't do some poses at all...walking is really good rehab too. Good Luck!
Look up The Tummy Team too - they have a class that can help with this...
A friend of mine is a physical therapist who started her own company called the Tummy Team that works on this very issue. I haven't taken the class yet but have heard nothing but good things about it. She uses the Tupler Technique, gives you a splint, and has you embark in a 6 week class to give you success. Check out her website: www.thetummyteam.com
Good luck!
Check out the Tupler Technique. If you can find a physical therapist that is trained in this, I would definitely recommend it. I had 3.5 finger deep separation that was healed in 8 weeks. I also lost 2 inches around my waist from the rehab. I was 4 years post baby, have run several half marathons, done pilates for 2 years, lots of exercise, lost all baby weight and this was the only thing that helped heal the separation and really strengthen my core.
After having twins at 40 weeks, I definitely had a gap. It took a long time for me to recover completely, but one thing that really helped was retraining the deep abdominal muscles (French women get this as a part of their socialize medicine). I used a book and dvd called "Bounce Back Fast" that was developed by a ballet dancer after she had trouble getting her strength back after pregnancy (http://www.befitmom.com/bounce_back_fast_post_natal_core_....
I think I would have recovered a lot faster if I'd been able to do the exercises for 20 minutes a day. They're really easy on the body, but they work.
Good luck!
