Teach the patient to perform the corrective exercise for diastasis recti exclusive of other abdominal exercise until the separation is decreased to 2 cm or less. The rationale for this is that, due to the angle of attachment of the obliques into the linea alba, there is a possibility that trunk rotation exercises will perpetuate […]

Test all pregnant patients for the presence of diastasis recti before performing any abdominal exercises. This test should be repeated throughout the pregnancy and appropriate modifications made to existing exercises.
Instruct patients to perform a self-test on or after the third postpartum day for optimal accuracy. Until 3 days after delivery, the abdominal musculature has inadequate […]

The combined influence of hormones, weight gain, and postural changes of pregnancy contributes to a variety of impairments (in addition to pelvic floor dysfunction that was described in the previous section) that can be addressed with physical therapy.
Diastasis Recti
Diastasis recti is separation of the rectus abdominis muscles in the midline at the linea alba. The […]

A check for diastasis recti must always be performed before initiating abdominal exercise. Only the corrective exercises (head lift or head lift with pelvic tilt) should be used until the separation is corrected to 2 cm (two fingerwidths) or less.
Head lift
Patient position and procedure. Hook-lying with her hands crossed over midline at the level of […]