A stomach that still looks pregnant months later. A bulge down the middle when you sit up. Here is how to check for it, what the result means, and what to do.
During pregnancy, your abdominal muscles stretch and separate to make room for your growing baby. The connective tissue down the middle, the linea alba, thins. After delivery, these muscles do not always return to their pre-pregnancy position on their own.
A separation of more than two finger-widths between the two sides of your abdominal muscles is considered diastasis recti. It is not a failing of your body, and it is treatable.
A visible bulge or dome down the center of your abdomen, especially when you sit up or bear down. Weakness in the core. Back pain. Difficulty with everyday movements like lifting your baby or climbing stairs. A stomach that still looks pregnant months after delivery.
1. Lie on your back with your knees bent. Put two fingers sideways just above your belly button.
2. Lift your head slightly, like the start of a crunch, and feel for a gap between the two ridges of muscle.
3. Check below the belly button too.
A gap of one to two fingers that firms up under your fingertips is a core coming back online.
A gap wider than two to three fingers, one your fingers sink into, or a belly that cones down the middle under effort means your core needs smarter loading, not harder loading. That is a "get assessed" flag, not a "give up" flag.
Not crunches. Not sit-ups. Crunches make it worse.
Breathing patterns, deep core activation, and progressive strengthening are what help the abdominal muscles reconnect. Start with diaphragmatic breathing. Then the deep core exercise: fingers just inside your hip bones, exhale, draw your lower belly in like zipping tight jeans, hold 5 seconds, 10 reps, twice a day.
Exhale on the hard part of every movement, and watch your midline for doming. If you have to hold your breath and bear down to finish something, it is too much for now.
Diastasis often improves visibly within 4 to 8 weeks of consistent work. A gap at 9 months can still close. A gap that is not closing with exercise is a reason to see a pelvic floor physical therapist.
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Exercise After Birth: When You Can Walk, Lift, and Run Again
When Kegels Are Not Working After Baby: Tight vs. Weak
Diastasis Recti Exercises: What to Do and What to Skip
C-Section Recovery Timeline: Week by Week to Full Healing
Sex After Birth: When, Why It Hurts, and What Helps
C-Section Scar Massage: When to Start and How
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Dr. Meg Cochran is a licensed Doctor of Physical Therapy specializing in pelvic floor rehabilitation, a trained doula, and a mom of four. She treats women after birth through Where You Are Physical Therapy in Oxford, Mississippi.
This article is educational and is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or a substitute for in-person care. Products are named as examples. Follow your own provider's instructions. For heavy bleeding, fever, severe pain, or thoughts of harming yourself or your baby, contact your healthcare provider or call 911.
After Birth is Dr. Meg's postpartum pelvic floor recovery guide. Nine chapters, every exercise with its dose, a C-section track, the diastasis check, the return-to-run checklist, and the tight-versus-weak chapter most moms never get. An instant PDF you can read on your phone. It is educational, not physical therapy.
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