Abdominal Separation in Pregnancy

Abdominal separation is where the connective tissue, called the linea alba weakens and thins resulting in a separation in the midline of the rectus abdominus muscle. This can leave a bulging in the midline on contraction and a hollow you can press in. This separation can range from as small as half a finger to as big as being as a whole fist.

As a side note, this can also occur in men particularly in association with truncal obesity.

Abdominal separation is a whole body issue and aside from the stress of a growing tummy during pregnancy is influenced by your posture, the way you move, breath and control your body. Having a sway back type posture with an excessive lumbar lordosis particularly places extra stress on the tummy area. This coupled with a rounded upper back + forward shoulders and forward head posture always needs to be addressed for best results.

A big misconception can be that the stringer your abs are the less likely that separation is going to occur. We frequently see the opposite, especially when a client is particularly rectus abdominus dominant coupled with some of the other postural issues mentioned. Going into pregnancy with washboard abs that just won’t give puts extra stress on the linea alba and can predispose to a separation. Ideally you don’t want to be at either extreme of the spectrum when it comes to muscle tone. Rather than a 6 pack it is better to focus on a balance of muscle strength and control between the entire core, gluts and pelvic floor with further attention given to the muscles that help to maintain good upper body posture.

Along with properly prescribed remedial exercises, chiropractic adjustments serve to assist in bringing your joints and overall posture into better alignment. Aside from all the other benefits of good posture, postural strength and correction will definitely serve to stack the odds in your favour for a complication free natural delivery.

If conception is something that is on the horizon, a preconception assessment is a great idea. if you are already pregnant you can still work towards improving your strength control and posture along the way so dont think its ever too late to get started.

Andrew Richards

Chiropractor - Well Aligned Cammeray