Growing a baby causes lots of rapid changes in your body.  Read on to to find out all about how your abdominal muscles are effected during pregnancy and beyond.

Separation of abdominal muscles

Any separation of the stomach muscles is a natural occurrence during pregnancy to allow your baby to grow and develop. The tissues in-between the muscles soften and stretch to accommodate the growth of your baby. The above picture shows how this may look or feel (it can be above or below the navel area).

Following pregnancy your stomach muscles will be weaker. When these muscles are weak you may experience back pain, poor bladder/bowel function and risk injury occurring in the future.

Try some diaphragmatic (belly) breathing; imagine directing your in-breath down deep into your tummy and making your ribs wide and full. Make your out-breath longer than the in breath feeling a tightening in your tummy muscles.

It is Important that movement and activity is not causing you pain, leaking of urine, faeces, wind or a sense of heaviness or bulging in the vaginal area. Avoiding constipation and straining is also important so as not to put additional pressure in the abdominal cavity.

In the initial postnatal period getting sufficient hydration, protein and rest will help the muscles to recover. Walking with the pram and being able to walk, pushing the pram for 30m with no pain or other symptoms is a good guide to being ready to increase your activity levels.

If you have any concerns regarding your tummy muscles about how they look, your strength or ability to carry out normal activities of daily living (which there are a lot with a new baby!) consult a trained professional who can guide you with your recovery.