Diastasis recti, the cause of the stomach not being flat again after childbirth

What is diastasis recti?

Your body feels like you can't stop surprising you during pregnancy.

Starting from the intense desire to eat certain foods to the pain that appears in the back.

Mothers who are undergoing pregnancy for the first time do not even think that their bodies can grow in such a way as to accommodate the baby.

Usually, the enlargement of the body that a mother experiences during pregnancy can shrink back after a normal delivery or a cesarean section.

Unfortunately, in some cases, this enlargement of the body is able to trigger diastasis recti or recti diastasis.

Diastasis recti or recti diastasis is a condition in which the muscles in your stomach experience separation due to the pressure that occurs in the abdomen.

In more detail, diastasis recti or diastasis recti is an abnormal separation of the muscles in the front of the abdomen, aka the rectus abdominus muscles on the right and left sides.

Launching from the UT Southwestern Medical Center page, this rectal diastasis condition is usually painless.

Over time, the pressure on the uterus can get stronger, causing the muscles on the right side and left side of the abdomen to expand and create distance.

Diastasis recti or recti diastasis is a condition that can begin in the second to third trimester of pregnancy or after delivery.

If you have diastasis recti, the stomach no longer has the ability to return to its original state.

This is due to excessive dilation of the stomach during pregnancy.

What causes diastasis recti?

Various causes of diastasis recti or diastasis recti are as follows:

Excessive and too strong stretch of the rectus abdominus (stomach) muscles.
Poor or poor coordination of the inner, front, and side abdominal muscles is poor or does not work well enough to attract each other.
Excessive weight gain during pregnancy.
The body's mechanism is less than optimal in returning the stomach to its original size after giving birth due to weight gain during pregnancy.
The process of tightening the abdominal muscles is difficult to return to normal.

The cause of rectal diastasis or separation of the stomach that appears enlarged can also occur due to hormonal changes.

These hormonal changes make the abdominal muscles thin and stretch during pregnancy.

Pressure from the body of the growing baby during pregnancy also contributes to diastasis recti or recti diastasis.

Pressure from the baby's body occurs as the uterus grows, aided by the presence of pregnancy hormones.

This pregnancy hormone works by softening the connective tissues (linea alba) around the abdominal muscles.

This separation that makes the stomach appear enlarged occurs when the growth of the uterus that is carrying a baby during pregnancy causes the two abdominal muscles to separate.

Yes, the abdominal muscles on the right and left can be separated from each other so that the stomach looks enlarged and it is difficult to return to its original size before pregnancy.

These muscles extend from the chest to the pelvis to the middle of the abdomen.

After going through the birth process, the hormones in the body can return to their pre-pregnancy state.

It's just that, in mothers who have rectal diastasis, usually the abdominal tissue has lost its elasticity so that it looks large and separated.

What are the symptoms of diastasis recti?

The most common symptom when you have rectal diastasis is a feeling of swelling or an increase in the distance in the midline of the abdomen.

The various signs and symptoms of rectal diastasis are as follows:

There is a gap between the two abdominal muscles on the right and left that is clearly visible when lying on your back and lifting your head up.
There appears to be a bulge in the middle of the stomach, especially when the abdominal muscles are moving.
Experiencing low back pain due to rectal plasticity makes it difficult for the abdominal muscles to be able to support the back.
Pain occurs in the pelvis.
Difficulty lifting heavy objects or doing daily routines.

These symptoms can appear after childbirth, for example during the treatment period after normal delivery and after cesarean section.

What are the risk factors for diastasis recti?

According to the Mayo Clinic, women who are pregnant at the age of 35 years or more have a greater risk of experiencing rectal diastasis.

The occurrence of an enlarged stomach is supported by various risk factors, both before pregnancy and after pregnancy, including:

Before getting pregnant

The risk factors for rectal diastasis before pregnancy are the following:

The mother has a previous pregnancy history with diactasis recti.
Mother is fat.
Mother has been pregnant several times.
Mother has weak stomach muscles.

When pregnant

Meanwhile, when you are pregnant, here are the risk factors for rectal diastasis:

The mother is pregnant again in a fairly close distance.
The mother is pregnant and eventually gives birth to triplets or more.
The mother was small at the time of pregnancy but was pregnant and gave birth to a baby whose size was bigger than usual.

How to diagnose rectal diastasis?

Doctors can diagnose diastasis recti by performing a physical examination or ultrasound examination (USG).

During the physical exam, you will be gently compressed in the abdomen to feel if there is separation between the two sides of the abdominal muscles as you lower your head.

You can also do the same thing to check for rectal diastasis.

Generally, if the abdominal separation is more than two fingers that are aligned vertically from the pubic bone to the ribs, you may have rectal diastasis.

The separation between the two sides of the right and left abdominal muscles is usually more pronounced when the stomach is actively moving, such as when you move from a lying down to a sitting position.

Doctors can also diagnose diastasis recti if the abdominal muscles have difficulty contracting.

What is the impact of diastasis recti?

Diastasis recti or recti diastasis is a condition that can cause your stomach to look distended or more advanced even though you are not pregnant.

This further complication of abdominal enlargement can lead to a hernia.

Most of the mothers do not realize that they have diastasis recti and they also do not find activities that can reduce their belly which looks distended.

Incorrect physical activity when diastasis recti actually risks causing injury.

How to treat diastasis recti?

Doing exercises after childbirth, such as postpartum exercise, can slowly help restore strength in the abdominal muscles.

You can do physical therapy or yoga to improve the condition of the stomach due to rectal diastasis.

However, you should first discuss the physical activities that you want to do with your doctor.

Here are some things that need to be considered so that diastasis recti does not get worse:

Avoid lifting objects or items that are heavier than the baby's body.
Try to roll to the side first when you get up or want to sit in bed.
Do light exercise instead of intense to strengthen your inner abdominal muscles.
Avoid doing movements like sit ups and certain yoga poses because they can exacerbate stomach conditions.

If the condition of separation of the stomach or rectal diastasis is felt to interfere with your daily activities, your doctor may recommend surgery or surgery.

Surgery or surgery is usually performed by suturing the stomach to repair the abdominal wall while reducing the distance between the muscles.

This can certainly help improve your appearance as well as make your daily activities easier, especially if the separation distance is more than 3 centimeters (cm).