Abdominal separation is common among pregnant women because as the uterus grows, it stretches those muscles. Although it’s reported that a majority of moms-to-be have this space between their right and left abdominal muscles, known as diastasis recti, many don’t realize it. According to Mayo Clinic, this “bulge” in the front of your bump can become more noticeable when the abdominal muscles are tense — which is exactly how Mazza spotted it. “Extra skin and soft tissue in the front of the abdominal wall may be the only signs of this condition in early pregnancy. In the later part of pregnancy, the top of the pregnant uterus can be seen bulging out of the abdominal wall,” Medline Plus explains. “An outline of parts of the unborn baby may be seen in some severe cases. “A new mom can still looked pregnant even months after delivery,” she tells CafeMom. “The cause is the growing baby pushing on the abdominal muscles apart, and increased risk factors are weight gain during pregnancy, large baby, twins, cesarean section, [and] lifting more than 20 pounds a week (i.e., a toddler).” On Facebook, Mazza shared her bump before and after activating those muscles, to show other moms what the condition can look like in real life. “If you have kids and you do a plank and notice it droop or lean back, and you still have the cone, it means your muscles are still separated,” she wrote. “This has been a public service announcement brought to you by me, who clearly spends too much time looking for her feet (and her vagina).” According to Ramos, there’s one thing that moms-to-be can do before having a baby in order to decrease their chances of having this happen. “Before you become pregnant, work on developing a strong core,” she says. After a woman gets pregnant and her bump begins to grow, she should also consider doing the “log roll” whenever she’s getting up from laying on the couch or bed. Ben Butts, PT, director of rehabilitation services and performance therapy at Providence Saint John’s Health Center, explained to Parents how the maneuver works: Instead of sitting upright, mamas should roll to one side and then use their arms to help prop them in order to ease straining those abdominal muscles. Instead, the first thing to building back that core after baby should be focusing on isometric contractions of the transverse abdominis muscles, according to Ramos. “They are often referred to as the abdominal muscular ‘girdle,’ and developing them will aid in getting rid of the ’tummy pouch,’” she says. “The results will be gradual, up to a few months, but remember, it took nine months to develop your ’tummy pouch.’” “Oh my god that’s what I had while I was pregnant?! I feel like my OB should have said something…” one mom commented. “Huh you really do learn something new every day! I didn’t know this. It would freak me out when it happened,” another added. “Yeah, who the hell planks anyway! Xx” another added.
