Our section arrives: Ask the midwife As happens every Friday. Midwife Marina Fernández collaborates with Babies and more and every week answers a question related to pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum or breastfeeding that our readers leave for her. This week we are going to talk about the abdominal diastasis.
Marina Fernandez She is a midwife, specializing in home birth, a lactation consultant and an expert in complementary therapies. She is a member of the Professional Association Born at Home and a founding partner of Multilacta.Each week he will collaborate with Babies and more by answering a question from our readers. You can know her better on her Marina Matrona page.
The question we have selected this week to answer the midwife Marina Fernández it is a problem that many women suffer after pregnancy and that can cause discomfort, diastasis of the rectus abdominis. It is about this:
I stayed with tripita after your pregnancy and although I do many abs I do not get it to decrease. In addition, I have begun to have urinary incontinence and lower back pain. I have been told that it is due to a diastasis of the rectus abdominis and I would like to know what it is exactly and if I can do something to improve my condition.
Midwife Marina Fernández answers the question and explains what is the diastasis of the rectus abdominis and gives us some guidelines to get an improvement.
"The most obvious sign of the diastasis of the rectus abdominis is a triplet that can hang and does not diminish after a few months. But there are other possible symptoms of diastasis of the rectus abdominis: urinary incontinence, lumnbar pain and also the bad ones digestions with gas or constipation.
We are going to see what we are talking about, it is the separation of the rectus abdominis muscle as a result of a damage in the connective tissue, caused by an increase in weight, the performance of classic abdominals with a hyperpressure in e
l abdomen, pregnancy, complicated births and / or caesarean sections, constipation, etc. This diastasis gives an external appearance of flaccid and sagging skin, since the abdominal wall does not protect the internal organs and can be the cause of lumbar pain due to changes in postural static and / or digestive problems by having all viscera in a different arrangement.
66% of pregnant women have diastasis, in the third trimester. This situation may not be resolved spontaneously in the postpartum period and may even be maintained for several years if it is not intervened to correct it.
During pregnancy there are a series of hormonal changes such as the increase in relaxin, progesterone and estrogen, which alter the composition of the collagen present in the tissues and is necessary at the time of delivery; and weakens the connective tissue that joins the two rectus abdominis.
To this we must add the increase in uterine volume, the increase in abdominal pressure, the change in the axis of the body and the modification of the pelvis, increasing lumbar lordosis. All this also affects the pelvic floor and is affected, as a result it increases urinary incontinence and the pee can escape when coughing, sneezing, running, etc.
The good thing is that the diastasis can be improved and is reversible, you can have a flatter stomach than now and eliminate digestive, lumbar and pelvic floor problems if you have them.
The classic abs are totally contraindicated in case of abdominal diastasis, what you have to do is strengthen the transverse abdomen and fasten your abs with a special girdle that helps close them. In a few weeks of continuous exercises and with the help of the girdle you can reduce those extra centimeters that have remained in your abdomen and prevent you from putting on pre-pregnancy clothes.
Sometimes, this separation of the rectum prevents your baby from being well placed (it may be on the buttocks or in transverse), it can also make it difficult for the baby to start because the baby is not in parallel with your back, or you may have problems because it does not fit in the birth canal or the dilation or expulsion does not progress, and may need help with performing an instrumental delivery or even a caesarean section.
In the next pregnancy, you will have to be careful from the beginning, so that the straight ones are not separated again and thus avoid this problem and its consequences.
If you are pregnant, do not worry, you can do some of the exercises and you can also use the specific belt for diastasis, and thus prevent your rectus abdominis from separating further.
I have accompanied several women with diastasis during pregnancy and childbirth and have managed to recover their abdomen, eliminate their digestive and pelvic floor problems; and best of all, their 2nd pregnancies and deliveries have been uncomplicated.
For more information you can ask me or consult the web stopdiástasis.com in which they inform you of the exercises and the specific band for this pathology. "
We hope that the response of midwife Marina Fernández be useful and serve to clear your doubts. Remember that every Friday we will choose a question so that she can answer it, so if you are pregnant or postpartum, you can leave your question in the comments of this post.
