Getting my core back after diastasis recti, what actually helped close the gap

Health & Wellness Postpartum
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Posting this because six months ago I was googling “will my stomach ever feel normal again” at 2am and I want to leave something more hopeful than what I found.

Quick background: after my second I had a pretty clear diastasis recti, the ab separation you can feel as a gap down the middle of your belly. That classic “mom tummy” pooch that doming when I sat up. At my 6 week check my OB referred me to a pelvic floor physio and honestly that referral changed everything.

What actually helped me, in order of how much it mattered:

  1. Getting properly assessed first. My physio measured the gap (about three fingers) and checked my pelvic floor before giving me ANY exercises. Do not skip this, a lot of generic ab work online can make a diastasis worse.
  2. Breathing and deep core connection before anything else. Learning to engage my transverse abdominis and pelvic floor together on the exhale. It felt like nothing was happening for weeks and then one day I could feel it switch on.
  3. Progressing slowly. Heel slides, modified planks against a wall, glute bridges, then harder stuff only once she cleared me. No crunches or sit-ups for a long time, those made the doming worse.
  4. Posture and how I picked up my toddler. She drilled “exhale and brace before you lift.” Sounds tiny, made a huge difference.

I want to be really clear this was never about “snapping back” or getting a flat stomach for a photo. It was about not peeing when I sneezed, being able to carry both kids without my back screaming, and feeling strong and connected to my body again. The gap closed to about one finger and the function is night and day even where it’s not fully closed.

If your belly still feels foreign, please go get assessed, you are not vain for wanting to feel strong. Anyone else done the pelvic floor physio route? What clicked for you?

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THANK YOU for framing this as feeling strong and not “snapback.” I’m a group fitness instructor and I can’t tell you how many new moms come in trying to crunch their way back and make their diastasis worse. Everything you said is spot on: assessment first, breath and deep core (transverse + pelvic floor on the exhale) before any loading, and stop if you see doming. The function wins, peeing when you sneeze going away is worth more than any flat-stomach photo. Saving this to share with clients.

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Needed this today. My gap is about two fingers and I’d kind of given up thinking it was just how my body is now. The “exhale and brace before you lift the toddler” tip alone, I’ve never heard that and I lift mine fifty times a day. Booking the pelvic floor PT referral I’ve been sitting on. The doming when I sit up makes so much sense now.

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