Diastasis recti

[godlytomatosoup]

raisingarrows.net/2010/02/im-pregnant-and-huge-a-diastasis-recti-story/

I wonder how many QF women have this.

[Effie]

Is uterine prolapse caused by diastasis recti? I have heard that basically the uterus can fall out, and that women who have been pregnant should be careful when jumping on a trampoline. :o Perhaps those two conditions have nothing to do with each other though.

[Extricated]

Link for the rest of us.

raisingarrows.net/2010/02/im-pregnant-and-huge-a-diastasis-recti-story/

[Extricated]

I know a lot of qf mothers but only one with this problem and hers is not that severe.

Jumping on the trampoline has to do with bladder problems and those can happen after one baby or not at all after a dozen. I've heard a lot of qf horror stories but have never heard of organs falling out from jumping on a trampoline. :lol:

[yetanothermeg]

Its pretty common and you don't need to have had a lot of kids to get it. I know 4 or 5 women who have dealt with this. I had it after my second child and my physical therapist gave me some exercises to do to close it up. I would really recommend seeing a physical therapist rather than doing exercises out of a book as the blogger suggests, because the physical therapist can work with you to make sure you are doing them correctly. Doing them incorrectly will only exacerbate the condition. Also, the blogger is wrong about not doing pilates. Pilates is fine (I do it twice a week) but before the diastasis is closed up you shouldn't do any crunches or crunch like movements. I let my pilates instructor know and she modified the exercises for me or gave me an alternative exercise to do from what the rest of the class was doing. With physical therapy mine was pretty well closed by about 4 months post partum (mine was moderate the blogger's looks severe).

Pregnancy and childbirth can wreak havoc on a woman's body regardless of how fit and healthy she was pre-pregnancy and it is unfortunate that many women feel they cannot discuss these issues without being shamed by other women.

[Sola]

http://www.raisingarrowsDOTnet/2010/02/im-pregnant-and-huge-a-diastasis-recti-story/

I wonder how many QF women have this.

A lot of women have it. It's generally asymptomatic and causes no pain. A problem can occur when a hernia pokes through. But mainly you will never get that pre-baby flat tum back and in future pregnancies you begin to show when you are 5 minutes pregnant!

Uterine prolapse isn't caused by or related to DR, however both are more common in multiple pregnancies, large babies and in woman who have genetic low muscle tone (ie: no amount of exercise will increase the tone).

I had a hysterectomy for a triple prolapse (uterine, rectal, urethral) earlier on in the year, I also have DR and an abdominal hernia which is poking through the split muscle wall (looks really attractive - not). I have to wait until I get the all clear from the gyni (just have) before the gastro (see him in December) will fix my hernia.

[godlytomatosoup]

Thanks for fixing the link, Extricated. I tried to break it without making it unreadable, but I guess I failed.

Now I'm wondering about this Tupler technique. My quack sense is tingling. She gave Amy from Raising Arrows free material in return for promoting her technique... According to Tupler's site, this condition is super common, and anyone can self-diagnose it, and then buy her DVD and book and splint (or two if you're big enough) to treat it, and there's Real Medical Research behind it... except that the person who patented (!) the technique is only an RN, and the only study available is by two MAs. Without wishing to be a degree snob, has no one with an MD ever evaluated this and published their findings? (Not that MDs are quack-proof either, which is why I would prefer more than one study.)

[emmiedahl]

My sister got it after two children, so bad that the muscles had to be surgically put back together.

My abdominal muscles are a bit apart after five. I can fit two fingers between them.

[yetanothermeg]

My sister got it after two children, so bad that the muscles had to be surgically put back together.

My abdominal muscles are a bit apart after five. I can fit two fingers between them.

If you can put two fingers between them then you have diastasis. That's how mine was. Now I'm just under a finger which the physio said was as good as I was probably gonna get.

[Rosa]

Pregnancy and childbirth can wreak havoc on a woman's body regardless of how fit and healthy she was pre-pregnancy and it is unfortunate that many women feel they cannot discuss these issues without being shamed by other women.

QFT

[Rosa]

also, the number of women self-diagnosing based on that story makes me think that there are a LOT of us getting no aftercare after birth.

[yetanothermeg]

also, the number of women self-diagnosing based on that story makes me think that there are a LOT of us getting no aftercare after birth.

Don't get me started! Really, seeing a physical therapist should be part of basic, post-partum care. The only reason I was seeing one was because of some complications I had during my pregnancy and she said to come back after my 6 week post partum check-up. She diagnosed the diastasis at that time. I had no idea anything was wrong and would have definately made the situation worse on my own.

[godlytomatosoup]

Pregnancy and childbirth can wreak havoc on a woman's body regardless of how fit and healthy she was pre-pregnancy and it is unfortunate that many women feel they cannot discuss these issues without being shamed by other women.

I'm sorry. I should have thought harder before I posted this.

[emmiedahl]

also, the number of women self-diagnosing based on that story makes me think that there are a LOT of us getting no aftercare after birth.

QFT. With three of my pregnancies, I was still bleeding so heavily at the six-week postpartum checkup that they could not do a pelvic exam. Two of those times, the doctor basically said that everything was probably okay, so I did not need follow-up. I had horrible tears with all of my kids and no one ever offered pain medication or anything--I was just supposed to go home and try to get on with my life with my bottom parts all stitched together. With two of my kids, the pain was so bad that I had a lot of trouble doing even the most mundane things. Really, a man who went through that would be given something.

With my 3rd and 4th children, I developed PPD so bad that I could not eat or sleep. I lost 40-50 pounds in two weeks both times. The doctors told me I was lucky to get my figure back so fast. With the 3rd, I got a horrible infection and started running high fevers and passing out. That is when the doctor decided to treat the depression. Even then, I just got an office visit, some antibiotics and Lexapro. When I had my 5th, I was really worried about PPD. I could feel the depression hitting me like a train while still in the hospital. I started crying to the nurse that I was afraid to go home because I could not face the depression again. She said because I was already on an antidepressant, I would be okay.

Postpartum care is appalling. Women are expected to go through so much pain with such little help. If you complain, they act like you should just be happy you have your baby and get over it already.

[yetanothermeg]

Post partum care in the US is the worst of any wealthy industrialized nation (big surprise). My sister-in-law just had a baby in New Zealand and she had a midwife visiting her at home checking the health of mother and baby. I had to bundle my 2 day old up and take him out in sub-zero conditions to visit the doctor for routine aftercare.

[yetanothermeg]

I'm sorry. I should have thought harder before I posted this.

Its ok Godlytomatosoup. This is just one of my pet-peeves.

[emmiedahl]

My births were all difficult, kind of extreme cases. My babies have all been turned so they come out at bad angles, and all but one of them were very large as well. My fervent wish as a future doctor is that I can help make American medical care for women more compassionate, although I know it is unrealistic to think I can change the system. If I am involved in delivering babies, I will definitely push for more visits and try to screen for some of the problems I had. Oh, and offer postpartum pain medication! My cramps after having my 4th and 5th were actually worse than the labor!

eta a word.

[Extricated]

I don't think there's any reason to apologize. Looking at it without knowing the frequency of it would lead anyone to believe that it's due to frequent pregnancies without time for the muscles to recover.

No problem with the link. You can break it by deleting the www. at the beginning and leaving the rest of the link alone. Then cell phone users don't have to try to edit out the DOT to get it to work.

[Cerysbell]

I was checked and told I had one after my third. I keep meaning to go and get them to check whether the exercises I did worked. Number 3 is over two now, so I probably shouldn't still look lightly pregnant.

[rewoodley]

A lot of women have it. It's generally asymptomatic and causes no pain. A problem can occur when a hernia pokes through. But mainly you will never get that pre-baby flat tum back and in future pregnancies you begin to show when you are 5 minutes pregnant!

Uterine prolapse isn't caused by or related to DR, however both are more common in multiple pregnancies, large babies and in woman who have genetic low muscle tone (ie: no amount of exercise will increase the tone).

I had a hysterectomy for a triple prolapse (uterine, rectal, urethral) earlier on in the year, I also have DR and an abdominal hernia which is poking through the split muscle wall (looks really attractive - not). I have to wait until I get the all clear from the gyni (just have) before the gastro (see him in December) will fix my hernia.

uterine prolapse can be caused by a DR. there are women out there who have just given birth and the dr does not wait for the placenta to seperate and pulls on the cord and literally pulls the uteri right out ... it is severe and has happened to more than one woman.

sorry for replying to such an old thread :oops:

[meda]

Links and examples please of an MD causing uterine prolapse by "pulling the cord"? It's not really a great idea to resurrect a dead thread with an old wives tale. Dr's can suck, but as a general rule they try to avoid blatant malpractice.

[rewoodley]

I know this is a site where mothers put their own experiances... most of them having been bad but... http://myobsaidwhat.com/2010/08/02/your ... oks-weird/

[rewoodley]

http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Uterine-Inversion.htm ... states quickly about how excessive traction on the cord can cause the prolapse

[Sola]

Still doesn't state that Uterine Prolapse and Diastatis Recti are linked. What you have posted is a link about Uterine Inversion, where the uterus and possibly the cervix literally fall out via the vagina.

[Mudgie]

I had this after 2 children. I do have a congenital weakness of the abdominal wall and have already had two inguinal hernias. I am currently pregnant with 3 separate hernias and this condition. After this child is born I will have surgery to repair my hernias and 6 months later surgery to repair the rest of my abdomen.

It's not as uncommon as one would think.

I will say it can be quite decimating to your self esteem.