The Quick Fix Phenomenon

The only program to engage in is the one to make you aware of things to avoid to ensure your diastasis recovers.

Women will come to see me after they've had a baby with concerns regarding their abdominal separation. They've been on YouTube, they've been online, and they've found the program 'six exercises to cure your diastasis'.

The only program to engage in is the one to make you aware of things to avoid to ensure your diastasis recovers. The honest truth is we don't know. If we had the guarantee I absolutely promise you we would use it.

Diastasis for many can be devastating. It can create back pain, abdominal pain, hip pain, and pelvic floor dysfunction. But there are also people out there with diastasis with no such symptoms. They are living a full life with exercise included. There are women who have large babies who have no diastasis, women who have small babies who have large diastasis. And thankfully, there's currently a lot of comprehensive research being done.

But the first thing I will tell you, is talk to a professional, a pelvic health physiotherapist or a fitness professional who has an interest and who's actually looking at the research. If you don't know anyone local to you, please send me a message and I can put you in touch with somebody.

The most important thing is looking at your goals, what's important to you. That may mean sometime down the line you're going to choose surgery. This is not a failure. This is a choice you are welcome to make and you should be wholly supported.

I am honestly so fed up with seeing the quick fix solutions- three moves to cure your back pain, two ways to improve your hip flexibility. To be honest, if it looks too good to be true, it really is. And when it comes to diastasis we are filling women with fear and anxiety about not having it fixed, not having their abs together when the reality is, my 5 year old daughter has a diastasis and lives a perfectly functional life. We need to stop frightening women into thinking they are less than because of something that has happened during their pregnancy. So let's change the conversation. Let's look at all the opportunities out there.

If this is something that rings true to you, I highly suggest you follow The Diastasis Project on Instagram and Facebook as they're trying to change the way we talk.

Nicola Robertson

Pelvic Floor Physiotherapist