Two fingers above the belly button, pressing down to see if the gap’s still there.
Most women I see have already done that at home, more than once.
That gap is diastasis recti. Pregnancy stretches the connective tissue down your middle sideways, so the muscles sit further apart.
Almost everyone has some. For most, it narrows over the first couple of months, then slows right down. You can check it yourself tonight.
In this article
- So what is diastasis recti?
- How common is it?
- How to check for it yourself
- Three things that actually help — starting today
- What we look at in a full assessment
- A note on exercise
- When it’s worth getting checked properly
- What to do next
So what is diastasis recti?
Running down the middle of your stomach is a strip of connective tissue that joins your two abdominal muscles together. It’s called the linea alba.
As your baby grows, this tissue stretches sideways and gets thinner to make room. That’s what causes the muscles to separate. And that’s exactly the gap you’re checking for.
For some women, that tissue stays wider and thinner after birth. Most advice out there focuses on the width of the gap, as if a tape measure tells you everything you need to know.
It doesn’t.
What matters just as much is whether your core can generate tension and do its job – support your spine, manage pressure through your middle, and let you move, lift, laugh and sneeze without that midline doming or bulging outward.
How common is it?
Very common. Most women have some degree of abdominal separation by the end of pregnancy, and it’s still present in a good number of women a year after birth.
Common doesn’t mean ignore it, though. It means you deserve a proper understanding of what’s happening in your body.
How to check for it yourself
Do it yourself first. It takes about a minute.
- Lie on your back. Knees bent, feet flat. Now put two fingers just above your belly button and press gently into the soft bit. Lift your head and shoulders off the floor, but only a little. You want the very start of a sit-up.
- Feel for a gap between the muscles – how many finger-widths and whether the edges feel firm or soft.
- Repeat just below your belly button.
A gap on its own isn’t the full picture — what matters more is whether you feel tension when you engage or whether the area domes or bulges upward.
If it comes noticeably, or you’re not sure what you’re feeling, that’s worth a proper assessment rather than trying to interpret it alone.
Three things that actually help — starting today
1. Breathe into your ribs
Lie or sit, whichever’s easier. As you breathe in, let your lower ribs open out to the sides — like an umbrella spreading open.
Then slowly breathe out. As you do, feel your deep tummy muscles softly draw in.
A lot of women are surprised to find out they’ve been breathing into their upper chest their whole life —
without even knowing it.
2. Connect breath with your pelvic floor
As you breathe out, gently lift and draw in through your pelvic floor — the same muscles you’d use to stop the flow of urine. Let go fully on the in-breath.
Start with 5–10 slow repetitions, once or twice a day.
3. Move without bracing hard through your middle
Roll to your side to get out of bed. Sitting straight up is the movement you tested the gap with. This takes pressure off your midline while it’s healing, without you needing to think about it every time.
These three things won’t “close a gap” overnight, and everybody’s timeline is different — but they build the foundation your core needs to do its job again.
What we look at in a full assessment
If you want to understand your own situation more specifically, a proper assessment looks at more than a tape measure:
- Whether you can generate tension through your midline when you engage your pelvic floor and deep core together
- Whether the area domes, bulges, or caves in when you move, lift, or get up
- How your breathing pattern is working
- What’s happening around your pelvic girdle and lower back, since these areas all work as one connected system
A note on exercise
In the early stages, it’s worth being mindful of sit-ups, crunches, and anything that makes your midline visibly dome or bulge – not because these movements are dangerous forever, but because doing them before your deep core can manage the load adds pressure to tissue that’s already stretched.
Once you’ve built some control back (through steps like the ones above), you can build back up from there.
When it’s worth getting checked properly
The self-check and the three steps above are a genuine place to start.
But diastasis recti rarely shows up on its own — it’s part of the same system as your pelvic floor and lower back, so it’s worth getting a proper assessment if you’re also noticing any of this:
- Back or pelvic pain that hasn’t settled since birth
- A heaviness, dragging feeling, or a bulge that wasn’t there before
- Your middle feels like it gives way when you lift the pram into the car boot
- Leaking when you sneeze, or when you run
- A visible dome or bulge along your midline when you move
None of this is something you need to just live with, or wait months to ask about.
The earlier you understand what’s actually going on, the sooner you can build a plan around it — instead of guessing at home indefinitely.
What to do next
If any of the above sounds familiar, or you’d simply like a plan built around your own body rather than general advice, our pelvic health physios are here to help.
If things still haven’t improved by the three month mark — it’s time to book a pelvic floor physio assessment.
