Diastasis Recti: Understanding, Preventing and Healing Core Separation (2026)

If your belly still looks pregnant months after delivery, or you notice a ridge or dome when you sit up, you may have diastasis recti — a separation of the abdominal muscles that affects up to two-thirds of pregnant people. It's incredibly common, usually not dangerous, and very treatable with the right approach. Here's everything you need to know.

What Is Diastasis Recti?

Your rectus abdominis muscles — the "six-pack" muscles — run vertically down the front of your abdomen, connected in the middle by a band of connective tissue called the linea alba. During pregnancy, as your uterus expands, the linea alba stretches and thins, allowing the two sides of the rectus abdominis to separate. This separation is diastasis recti.

Some degree of separation is normal during pregnancy — it's how your body makes room for a growing baby. For most people, the gap narrows naturally in the weeks and months after delivery. Diastasis recti becomes a concern when the gap remains wider than about 2 finger-widths (approximately 2 cm) at 8 weeks postpartum and isn't closing on its own.

Research suggests that about 60% of people have diastasis recti at 6 weeks postpartum, and about 30% still have it at 12 months. Risk factors include multiple pregnancies, being over 35, carrying multiples, having a large baby, and excessive abdominal exercises during pregnancy (particularly crunches and sit-ups).

How to Check for It

You can do a simple self-check at home. Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat. Place your fingers horizontally across your belly button, pointing toward your feet. Slowly lift your head and shoulders off the floor (a mini crunch). Feel for a gap between the two ridges of muscle. Check above, at, and below your belly button.

What you're measuring: A gap wider than 2 finger-widths (about 2 cm) or tissue that feels soft and deep (like your fingers sink in without resistance) suggests diastasis recti. Also note "doming" — a visible ridge or cone shape along the midline when you engage your abs. Doming indicates that the connective tissue isn't generating enough tension to transfer force between the two sides.

A physiotherapist or your healthcare provider can do a more precise assessment, sometimes using ultrasound to measure both the width and depth of the separation.

Exercises That Help

The goal of diastasis recti rehabilitation isn't necessarily to close the gap completely — it's to restore functional tension to the connective tissue so your core can generate and transfer force effectively.

Diaphragmatic breathing with pelvic floor engagement. This is the foundation. Inhale, expanding your ribs and belly. On the exhale, gently draw your pelvic floor up and your lower belly in toward your spine. This trains the deep core system to work together.

Dead bugs. Lying on your back with arms extended toward the ceiling and knees in tabletop position, slowly lower one arm overhead while extending the opposite leg. Keep your back pressed into the floor and exhale as you extend. Return and repeat on the other side. This challenges your core stability without loading the linea alba.

Heel slides. Lying on your back with knees bent, slowly slide one heel along the floor to extend the leg, then slide it back. Maintain a neutral spine and exhale during the extension. This builds basic core stability.

Bird-dog. On hands and knees, extend one arm forward and the opposite leg back, keeping your spine neutral and hips level. Hold for 5 seconds, return, and repeat on the other side. This challenges core stability in a functional position.

Modified plank. Start with a wall plank or incline plank (hands on a bench or counter) rather than a full floor plank. Progress to lower surfaces as your core strengthens. Watch for doming along the midline — if you see it, you're not ready for that level of challenge.

Progression is key. Start with breathing and gentle engagement, progress to the exercises above, and gradually add more challenging movements over weeks and months. Rushing into advanced core work can worsen the separation.

Exercises to Avoid (Initially)

Until your diastasis has improved and your core can generate adequate tension, avoid exercises that create excessive pressure on the linea alba.

Traditional crunches and sit-ups directly load the rectus abdominis in a way that pushes the two sides apart. They're the most commonly cited exercise to avoid with diastasis recti.

Full planks and push-ups (from the floor) may be too challenging if your core can't maintain adequate tension. Doming during a plank means you're not ready for it.

Heavy lifting with poor bracing — any exercise where you hold your breath and bear down (Valsalva maneuver) increases intra-abdominal pressure and can worsen the separation.

Double-leg lifts and other exercises that challenge the lower abs intensely before the deep core system is ready.

These aren't necessarily permanent restrictions. As your core function improves, many of these exercises can be reintroduced gradually with proper form and breathing technique. A pelvic floor or postpartum fitness specialist can guide your progression.

When to Get Professional Help

See a physiotherapist if the gap isn't improving after 8-12 weeks of consistent, targeted exercise, you're unsure whether you're doing exercises correctly, you're experiencing back pain or pelvic instability, you want to return to intensive exercise and need a safe progression plan, or the separation is wider than 3 finger-widths.

In rare cases where rehabilitation doesn't adequately restore function, surgical repair (abdominoplasty with muscle plication) is an option. This is typically considered only after you've completed your family, given conservative approaches a thorough trial, and the separation is significantly affecting quality of life or function.

Frequently Asked Questions