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Not sure if this is the right place to post, but I have just found out today that I have this (where my abdominal muscles have separated and my stomach is poking through). The midwife didn't go into much detail but referred me to a physio, which I don't get to see for 2 1/2 weeks. I'm a bit worried, have scoured the internet but can't find much on it. Just wondering if anyone else has/had this, and can give me any info?
oh Beth I'm sorry but I don't have too much info on it, although when I was in my 6 week post birth physio class there were two women there who had it and one was strapped up as it was quite severe... and had been seeing a physio throughout 3rd trimester... so going to the physio seems to be what you do for it! I am getting free physio through the hospital where Matilda was born... that might be something to check out if it is going to be an ongoing thing... I guess it depends on the hospital, we were out at Redlands Public in Cleveland.
Hi Beth, I think I had the same thing... I only found out at my 32 week check up, but my Dr didnt seem that concerned - she didnt even tell me what its name was!!
She asked me to try and sit up (from lying down) and that was how she could easily tell, as when I strained you could see that my abdominal muscles had moved to each side of my belly. She said that would explain why my whole belly was poking so far forward, and also why my back pain was getting very bad. She recommended as a method of supporting my belly to buy some large supportive bikepants, and pull them all the way up over my belly to under my breasts, just for a little extra support.
Hopefully the physio can give you more tips on how to make things easier on your back etc...
Oh Beth, big hugs. I just want to reiterate I am thinking of you, I hope you are feeling OK and I wish I could give you some info on the problem. I haven't even heard of it, but I did have a surf on the net and this is what I found that may be of interest to you:
Separation of the left and right side of the rectus abdominis muscle, which is the muscle covering the front surface of the abdomen.
Diastasis recti is also seen in some women during pregnancy, especially in women with poor abdominal tone. The abdominal muscles separate because of the increasing pressure of the growing fetus.
For mothers, postpartum abdominal exercises strengthen the musculature and can close the diastasis recti.
Please feel free to email me if you ever need a good chat - jess_reid123@yahoo.com
Jess
Thanks heaps girls for your info and reassurance. Doesn't sound like too much to worry about, I'm sure it'll be fine, I think its just the idea of it that grosses me out!
Jess, you are a sweetheart, I'm so happy to be sharing a due date with you! Ambah, thanks for the info, that is exactly how mine sounds, how is yours going now? Thanks Christy, glad to hear from others who has heard of it! I am going through RBH, as I am a northsider, so I'm getting free physio there - how are you finding it at Redlands?
How are you finding it at RBH Beth?? I went there myself... I had good experiences with them leading up to the birth, especially the physio dept (that is where I took Pregnastics classes!)
But when the time came to have bubs, I wasn't as impressed with RBH...
Just mainly a couple of the midwives really annoyed me, plus they wanted me to come back 24 hours later (even though my waters had broken!) because there were no rooms...
I think my stomach muscles are fine now, but I haven't attempted to do sit ups or anything... not that I ever did them before pregnancy either, - and that is probably why they split in the first place! LOL!
Ambah, good to hear the experiences of another RBH mum! So far they've been pretty good. The only thing is my appointment before last, when you see an OB for the first time, I saw a student, and thought she was really nice, but I showed her my stomach and she wrote it off as stretching pain. This time I saw a midwife and she picked up on it straight away...hmmm. And I did the tour last week, never been to the maternity section before, can't believe how tiny those 4 bed wards are!! Oh well, I guess you're not in for very long - how long did you stay in for?
As aidyn was born at 3am, I was moved up to the wards at about 5am. I stayed there for 2 nights. The first night I was in a ward with 4 other mums. I had a terrible night where Aidyn wouldn't stop crying, and the next day Just as Aidyn went to sleep, and I was about to sleep myself (finally)- the lady next to me receieved about 10 visitors who were all talking and laughing loudly :mad: ... So I just broke down in tears, I was soooo exhausted, so they ended up moving me to my own private room!!! (which was a GODSEND!!) I think I may have gotten special treatment though because the hospital knew I used to suffer from a bit of depression and they didn't want me wigging out on them...
Sorry to but in and revert back to the original topic but I just thought I'd ad something. I don't think the separation of the stomach muscles is much to worry about when pg. I think it's afterwards when you need to pay attention to exercising these muscles, as normal excercise won't do anything. You need to employ different excercises to strengthen these muscles.
After birth you can tell if they are separated by tensing the muscles and feeling for a large gap between them.
HTH
Tanya